Seal gains 20 kg and can go back into the sea

Now that Dumbo has recovered sufficiently, he can go back into the wild.

Dumbo was found on the beach of Westende in December and weighed only 16 kilograms at the time. The caretakers noted that the animal already had a tag from the Pieterburen Seal Center in the Netherlands. It turned out that the animal had already been taken care of in the Netherlands as a baby. Then a bystander had unnecessarily held the animal, which just came to rest on the beach, for an hour and a half.

General Manager of Sea Life Blankenberge Michelle Hoeneveld emphasizes that it is important to leave seals alone on the beach. “If this bystander had simply let the animal rest, we should never have intervened. Trust the professionals. If we say there is no need to intervene, then it is.”

In the end, Dumbo was able to gain enough strength to a hefty 36.5 kilogram seal, ready to go back into the sea. At the moment there are still six seals in the rescue center in Blankenberge.