As this is WRAS 25th year as an award winning community charity, we are going to look back on some of the memorable rescues or events in our past. Each day between now and 2022 we will post a memorable moment.
Todays moment is the rescue of a injured seal on a slipway at Sovereign Harbour Eastbourne in October 2015. It was a difficult rescue as rescuers had to approach out of sight of the seal to avoid scaring it into the water. You can watch the video at: youtu.be/gcDGVhHtKZI
East Sussex WRAS is funded entirely by donations, fundraising, monthly standing orders and legacies. Find out more at www.wildlifeambulance.org
Reg Charity 110880. Wishing you all a happy festive time from all the wildlife at WRAS! ...
Video
Volunteer rescuers from East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service were called out to a bird seen entangled in fishing line at the end of Eastbourne Pier today.
Rescuer Keith and Ches attended and found the bird to be a Guillemot. The black and white sea bird, which people often mistake for a penguin, was quite a way from the pier but attached to one of the metal supports by fishing line.
“Our longest reach and rescue pole is 15 metres but this poor bird must have been at least 30 if not 40 metre away” said rescuer Keith Ring.
Rescuers were able to use their longest reach and rescue pole with a hook on the end to reach down and lift the line up to the rescuers at the top of the pier. They were then able to pull the bird closer to the pier where a net could them be used to lift the bird up to them and the line cut.
“There must have been at least 25 metres of line attached to the guillemot, which was constantly trying to swim away and getting very tired in the process,” said Ches Rogers.
Rescuers walked back to WRAS’s waiting ambulance at the entrance to the pier before returning to WRAS’s Casualty Centre at Whitesmith near Lewes.
On admission WRAS’s vet Lourdes Cortes Saez examined the Guillemot and found fishing gear deeply embedded in the wing. A general anaesthetic had to be used so that an x-ray could be taken and the gear remove safely.
The bird was placed into one of WRAS’s recovery incubators and is now being closely monitored.
This is the third seabird which WRAS has been called to this year attached by lengths of fishing line at the end of Eastbourne Pier. “Rescuers have been lucky so far that they have been able to reach and safe all but one of the birds. Sadly a gull earlier this year drowned before rescuers could arrive to attempt rescue, but this guillemot and a previous gull were luckily saved” said Trevor Weeks Founder of East Sussex WRAS.
Reg Charity 1108880. www.wildlifeambulance.org ...
Photo
Tickets are now available for our Christmas Virtual Race 2021! This year we will have a very special bespoke medal for each finisher! All you need to do is run, walk, swim or cycle 2.5 miles between Friday 24th December 2021 and Tuesday 4th January 2022! An ideal way to get rid of those extra pounds put on over the festive season! Places are limited to just 100 so book early. To book your tickets head to wildlifeambulance.org/donate/christmas-wildlife-race-2021/ ...
Photo
