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 .