Canvey - A Seal’s Story

14th November 2006 

The recent discovery of a stranded seal in Porthleven Harbour sadly brought to an end the story of Canvey, an Atlantic grey seal with a history.

Following a call to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Marine Strandings hotline, a trained strandings volunteer, Caroline Curtis, was called to attend and record the dead animal.  She thought that there was something unusual about the seal when she saw a brown tag on one of its hind flippers.  After further investigations it was discovered that the tag was of the old type used by the National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek when they release rescued seals.  Tagging seals following rehabilitation is an important part of the Sanctuary’s post release monitoring programme, enabling analysis of the seals’ location and survivorship.

Canvey the Atlantic grey seal at Godrevy. Photograph by Sue Sayer.

It was discovered that the tag seen on the seal in Porthleven belonged to Canvey, a male seal originally rescued in 1996 and released after rehabilitation at the Seal Sanctuary in 1997.  As Sanctuary Curator, Dr Glenn Boyle explains, "We receive numerous reports of seals after their release, but Canvey's survival for ten years in the wild is the longest that we have on record, and represents a real success for our rehabilitation efforts".

In a further twist to this story, at a meeting of the Cornwall Seal Group, pictures taken of the seal at Porthleven were recognised immediately as a seal that was well known to the group.  Records revealed that this seal had visited a local haul out beach on the North coast every year since 2000.  His visits to the beach were always brief so it is thought that he was just passing through on his way elsewhere.

Canvey’s story has raised many intriguing questions. Where had Canvey come from and where was he going? Where did he spend most of his year?  He had clearly travelled between the North coast where he was last seen in February 2006 and Porthleven when he was found dead.  Was he a wanderer who might have been to France or was he a local Cornish seal that just cruised around our coasts?

Though these questions are yet to be answered Sue Sayer of the Cornwall Seal Group says, “We probably know more about Canvey now than most seals in the southwest but there are so many more facts about these animals yet to find out.  I hope the different organisations and local groups will continue to work together to build a more complete picture of the Atlantic Grey Seal’s life.”

Continued monitoring and identification work is essential, as is cooperation between the groups involved.  Ruth Williams of the Marine Conservation Team at Cornwall Wildlife Trust said, “Although this is a sad end for Canvey, his story underlines the excellent work and the partnership between the three organisations involved.  By working together, and with the help of the public to tell us what they see and report their sightings to us, we can learn more about the lives of the marine creatures that live in and visit our Cornish seas.  Only with this knowledge and information can we really start to actively conserve our wonderful marine life for future generations to enjoy.”

Please report any live sightings of marine life, from seals to jellyfish, to Seaquest Southwest on 01872 273939.  Dead strandings should be reported immediately to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust's Marine Stranding hotline on 0845 201 2626.

Other items that may be of interest:

• Visit the Cornwall Seal Group website
• Visit the Seal Sanctuary website