The number of reports of entangled seals is increasing. According to seal center Pieterburen, the number of reports in 2010 was still 8, in 2020 there were already 35. This week, two animals in distress were removed from the North Holland coast in one week.
Last Monday, on the Razende Bol near Texel barely seal Netty freed from a fishing net around her neck. She didn’t have to go to the shelter, but it remains to be seen whether the huge wound in her neck will heal properly.
A few days before, on Saturday, Netty was taken off the coast of Den Helder. She too was entangled in nets, rope and fishing line. It was quite a job to catch her, says Floor Bierma van Pieterburen. It took four days to catch the animal.
The job started on the beach of Wijk aan Zee. Because she wasn’t sick or weak, she quickly managed to slip back into the water. Other attempts were made at Egmond aan Zee, Huisduinen and Texel, but she quickly went back into the water there as well. In the end she was caught on the beach of Den Helder.
Take to the shelter
“Normally we rescue entangled animals on the beach and immediately release them. That was not possible with Netty. The wounds were so deep that she had to come along,” says Bierma. X-rays were taken of her fin at the seal center. According to Pieterburen, the wounds are very large.
“We see that she is doing better. She is slowly gaining a little more appetite, and the pain relief is also helping. Still, it is still difficult to say whether her fin will recover. If not, then we will have to let her go. We don’t think the life of a seal that can’t swim is worthy of a seal,” said Bierma.