BDMLR Marine Mammal Medic

I am an on call advanced marine mammal medic with British Divers Marine Life Rescue and their fundraising and public engagements event coordinator for Cornwall in addition to being their Assistant Area Coordinator for West Cornwall. I am in addition a lead instructor on the medic courses and love helping new medics learn how to help our marine life. As medics we are on call 24/7 for rescuing stranded seals and cetaceans.

We offer initial first aid and animal care – refloating cetaceans where possible, providing initial first aid and animal are for injured and sick seals and relaying seals for rehab where appropriate.

We run talks and public engagement activities to raise awareness of our marine mammals.

In 2020 we looked tirelessly for land for a new hospital. The temporary / pop up seal hospital had been sited at a small unit (plus one of our medic’s holiday camps acting as an overflow)  for the previous 9 years – facilities which would not be available in 2020/2021 season onwards.

During winter 2020/2021 season my husband and I hosted the BDMLR Seal Hospital at our home and together with a small team of medics we cared for 139 sick and injured pups whilst they waited for larger rehab space.  The season was the longest on record running from very early Sept to mid May.

Due to covid we had pups for longer stays than normal too, on average 7 – 8 days and the longest being 17 days.  We cared for at most 6 at any one time around the clock and whilst this was a lot of effort it was an incredibly rewarding time.

Jan 2021 we gained planning permission for the hospital and I moved straight from caring for pups in early May to leading the build.  Dusting off some skills from my corporate days I took on the project management of the build voluntarily for four months.  My role in addition to PM included, compliance, quantity surveying to minimise waste (informed by my build team’s experience), negotiation and buying, and on occasions collecting materials (logistics). I also got involved with labouring and I learned so many new trade skills.

I was lucky to work with a number of committed and compassionate professional trades people not least Richard Shilton who carried our the majority of the build and Gary Lobb who with his team carried out the ground works. The facility was completed within budget and time and due to the generosity of many suppliers (and some of my Coaching clients) the quality of the hospital punches well above its weight when it come to the standard of finish in comparison to the cost.  All stakeholders were stoked – not least the seals who needed the space.  We broke ground on 9th May and officially opened on 11th Sept and during this time I was awarded a Points Of Light Award from the prime minister, which (whilst cute) wasn’t as exciting as having a new hospital to volunteer in.  Several seasons in now and I absolutely love being a lead medic there.

Within 2021 I was also lucky enough to monitor and support a lost walrus (Wally the walrus) on the Isles of Scilly while remotely project managing the hospital build.  This experience was life changing.  I built him is own pontoon to stop him damaging boats and this enabled them to “accommodate ” him until he moved on.  I was his personal Bodyguard and PR Agent and spent my time educating visitors on how to behave around marine wildlife.

In 2023 I was Awarded an Animal Action Award from IFAW for my work with the seals, this was in recognition of voluntary work on the beaches and at the seal hospital rescuing and rehabilitating hundreds off pups.  I accepted this on behalf of our full team who all work tirelessly (it is always teamwork).

I have been involved in a lot of dolphin rescues over the years and led a few.  In 2023 I was honoured to be part of a team that managed to refloat 7 out of 8 dolphins who got themselves stuck in river bank mud at Mylor Bridge. As a team we used insight from this rescue to inform further mud rescues that happened later that year.  In 2024 we had more callouts to dolphins in trouble than previous years and I have again been proud to take the lead on several occasions where we have managed to refloat dolphins – even where their requirements were complex, involving relocation by boat or  car.

Volunteering with BDMLR os something I am very proud to do and I champion this charity with all my heart.

The UK has nearly 40% of the grey seal population (the most rare pinniped species) and we do everything we can to protect them when they are injured, exhausted, caught in fishing net etc.

Find our more about BDMLR HERE