A family staying at Jury’s Gap say finding two dead seals on the beach near Camber was very emotional.
The two seals – one fitted with a tag from RSPCA Mallydams Wood at Fairlight – were found in a fishing net washed up at Broomhill Sands. The net also contained dogfish and crabs.
At 11am on 29 October Graham Nicholls’ grandson Lukas spotted a large fishing net caught in the groynes on Broomhill Sands.
He says on closer inspection they discovered the two seals caught in the net. “We rushed home to collect cutting equipment before removing the net from the sea. The tide was racing in and we had to work quickly to free the seals. Sadly, there was no sign of life and there were a lot of tears as we let the seal carcasses be taken away by the tide. They are such beautiful animals and it is so sad what has happened to them. This type of drift net causes untold damage to sea mammals.”
Graham and Lukas then set about freeing what else was trapped in the net. “It had to be cut into sections to be removed from the beach as it was too heavy for us to drag. Lukas did a great job with the crab rescue, saluting each crab as they set off back in the sea.”
The family own one of the coastguard holiday cottages at Jury’s Gap. Graham says his wife Carolyn, daughter Sarah and second grandson Rudi also played an important part in the story. “I am so proud of my family for doing this. It was hard and there was the possibility of us all being washed out to sea.”
The family have since discovered one of the seals could be identified by a tag on its flipper. It was numbered 64204 by the staff at RSPCA Mallydams Wood who rescued the seal from Margate two years ago.
Image Credits: Sarah Nicholls .
This is so sad but you have to question why Mallydams would release this seal into fishing waters with nets and not take it back to where it was first found. Seals are not indigenous to the Rye Bay area and I was hearing at a recent meeting that they cause all sorts of problems with the fishermen and their fishing lines. Whilst rescue centers do amazing work with our wildlife they have to have good knowledge when it comes to sea creatures regarding habitats etc. and not just release into the nearest stretch of water that can cause harm to both the creature and the habitat. This poor family have witnessed the possible result of bad or lazy judgment and this seal has lost its life whereas in a different environment it would have survived.
Yes Jacqui, you are right but we have a massive growth in the seal population. At the same time with the effects of climate change, warming seas you are seeing a reduction of fin fish so its not looking good for the future.
Surely the problem here is not with Mallydams choice of release location but the fact our seas are full of discarded fishing nets that trap large creatures like seals and whales. It’s shameful what we have let happen to our coast. If it’s not sewage infected plastic beads it’s polluted rivers emptying into it and tons of discarded fishing gear. It’s a wonder more families don’t have the misfortune to discover dead creatures when walking along the beach.
Well done to the family in this article for removing the nets and preventing more damage. It’s a pity fishing nets don’t carry registration marks of some kind, so the responsible fisherman could traced.
It is agreed that ‘ghost fishing gear’ is a massive problem worldwide. But in this case the nets look to be new. They can be lost due to bad weather, being incorrectly anchored or even being towed away by another vessel, bottom fishing. They are expensive, time consuming to make up, and fundamental to a person trying to earn a living, they are not ‘routinely’ discarded.
There have been harbour seals in this area for some time
Often spotted on the Chanel to rye harbour.
No mention of the fishing process of drift nets which catch and kill all sorts of wildlife. It is estimated the off the American coast Some 20,000 green turtles are caught in these type of nets each year along with a great number of other marine mammals they are drowned and end up in landfill.
Let’s fish for fish and not ravage the rest of the marine environment
Mallydams do a good job
Well said Neil. You only have to walk along the beach at the old town in Hastings to see the huge amount of rubbish left by the fishermen. Makes it look third world down there. You would think they would give more thought to the environment.
They should take responsibility for what they are doing and clean up their act.
I’m delighted we have in the community such ‘experts’. Those who can tell the difference between huge amounts of rubbish, discarded nets, stored nets, stacked whelk pots, stacked cuttlefish traps and nets in use. I can’t imagine these ‘experts’ missed the skip compound (surrounded by a security fence and holding three large skips) that is on the beach and being used by the few remaining fishermen. I say few because there are less then ten boats working now. The industry appears now to be sadly in terminal decline, hence the slow deterioration of the historic beach community and its environs. Driven there by over zealous bureaucracy (MCA, MMO, IFCA, the ‘expert’s will have in depth knowledge of these organisations, I’m sure), lack of fish stocks and the same ‘experts’ who think their fish supper comes directly from a supermarket.