Cafe staff praised for seeking help for seal pup

Elmer, the grey seal pup, is being cared for by the RSPCA while he regains his weight and strength

Staff at an Isle of Wight cafe have been praised by a wildlife charity after they sought help for an unexpected guest - a grey seal pup.

The young seal made its way up the beach to The Lazy Wave at Shanklin on Tuesday afternoon and fell asleep on its deck area.

Cafe staff alerted British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and its medics found the four-week old male pup was underweight, dehydrated and exhausted. He is now been cared for by the RSCPA in Hastings.

The Lazy Wave Cafe said Elmer was "definitely our cutest customer yet".

The cafe said little visitor Elmer was "definitely our cutest customer yet"

The cafe's owner, Rae Rawlins said she first found out about the seal when staff sent her a photo with the message, "got a problem."

She said: "Usually that means the coffee machine's gone on strike, the slush machine's acting up or the doughnut machine doesn't want to play ball. What I wasn't expecting was a seal lying outside the cafe looking like he owned the place."

She said as the staff watched on "he seemed a little distressed and even let out what we could only describe as crying.... I told the team to check for a mother seal nearby, but with none in sight, I asked them to give him plenty of space and make sure no one - especially dogs - got too close."

"They made sure the little one was safe until help arrived. I couldn't be prouder of how the team handled such an unexpected situation.

"Big thanks to the amazing team at British Divers Marine Life Rescue for being on hand to help our unexpected seaside visitor," she added.

The charity thanked the staff for not ushering the pup, who was in need of round-the-clock care, back into the sea.

It said he weighed 13kg, rather than the expected 45kg for an animal of his age.

BDMLR said the little pup was initially fed overnight to stabilise him at Carisbrooke vets.

He was then taken by ferry to the mainland with the charity's medics and "slept soundly for most of the journey".

The charity said Elmer would be "piling on the blubber" at RSPCA Mallydams in Fairlight near Hastings before being released back into the wild on the west coast in several months.