Animal lover wanted for Skegness seal rescue job

Duties will include caring for the poorly seal pups in the hospital unit

An animal sanctuary is advertising for a new recruit to join the team as a seal rescuer.

Natureland, which opened in Skegness in 1965, rescues orphaned and injured seals and rehabilitates them before releasing them back into the wild.

The ideal candidate would hold an animal-related qualification, driving licence, and be prepared to work weekends and bank holidays.

Duties would include caring for the animals in the seal hospital.

Manager Matt Yeadon said the hospital was the first port of call when the seals "come in feeling a bit sorry for themselves".

"They are either very young and orphaned, or very unwell, and it's our job to get them better, get them bigger and get them ready to go back into the wild," he said.

He said the successful candidate would spend the bulk of their time caring for the seals, with duties including feeding, cleaning out the pens and administering medicine.

"When they are feeling better they will move outside to the pool - learn how to feed from the water before going to the bigger pool to get ready for release," he said.

Once on their way to recovery, the seals are moved to the pool where they learn to feed for themselves

Mr Yeadon said many of the rescued seals come into the hospital having "no idea what a fish is".

"They are either far too young or far too poorly to know," he said.

However, once they are well enough to move to the pool, each seal is fed up to 3kg (6lbs) of fish a day," he added.

"This is the last point of contact the hospital staff will have with these pups so the role in here is just to get them feeding from the water and competing with each other as best we can."

The work of the centre was highlighted earlier as a seal named Sweetcorn was released.

The seal was rescued when it was just four days old and has spent months being rehabilitated.

Sweetcorn being released back into the wild