Seal Saviour

Ken Jones provides shelter from the storm for a seal.

Ken Jones takes in a seal at his home in St Agnes, Cornwall. The young seal pup had been injured in a storm. Ken nursed it back to health before retuning it into the sea. Ken went on to devote his life to saving seals. He and his wife extended their St Agnes home to build holding pools for rescued seals. In 1975 the now well-known Seal Sanctuary moved to Gweek and has rescued many seals. Some seals are too injured to be released and have become permanent residents.

The Sanctuary has developed its own hospital and takes in a variety of animals from Grey and Common Seals to Californian and Patagonian sea lions, otters, penguins, and farm animals. The Sanctuary occasionally looks after dolphins and turtles. The Sanctuary release seals back into the wild after they are fully recovered. Many seal pups are left alone while their mothers go fishing and should not be disturbed. Scotland has designated seal conservation areas and since 2011 it became an offence to kill, injure or take a seal from the wild. Exceptionally, a special licence may be sought to cull a seal in order to protect farmed fish stocks. The Sanctuary campaigns against seal culling worldwide.