Aroha Seal Sanctuary is a young charity on the Outer Hebrides providing stabilizing and intensive care for seal pups in need of rescue. They are the organization we’re supporting during our second Donation Dive.
Aroha’s website: Aroha Seal Sanctuary
On rescuing and providing intensive care for seals on a remote island
Trained seal caretakers and medics Lyndsey, Jimmy, Debs, and Lily from Aroha kindly answered some questions about the rescue and care in a temporary holding facility for seals. This interview was conducted as part of Donation Dive #2.
The Seal Signal: What motivated you to get involved with seal rescue in the first place?
Lily from Aroha: I was born on the island and the sea has played a big part in my life. I grew up in it, beside it or looking at it, as in turn did my own children. The sea and what lays beneath it has always drawn me in. Training to be a marine life medic I saw a gap in the seals treatment pathway from uplift to ongoing rehab. The gap meant that our most vulnerable seals would not get a chance at rehab. I wanted to change that. After securing funding and developing a team of trained medics we now run a fully functioning seal sanctuary. This has changed the landscape for rescue here in the Western Isles. We have strong working bonds with the main seal organisations in the UK and together we strive to protect and preserve these incredible species 🦭
What’s the most memorable situation with a seal you had so far?
Lyndsey from Aroha: Mine would have to be Lionel, our common seal uplifted from Port Nis beach, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, on 21 Oct 2025.
He was found weak and covered in raw open wounds, what turned out to be dog bites. His face, back, front, flippers and tail. I uplifted him from Port Nis beach and took him straight to the vets where his wounds were assessed. He was administered antibiotics at the vets and we admitted him to Aroha where we spent hours cleaning his wounds. He was covered from head to tail. We worked through the night to keep his wounds clean.
As he was a mature Common seal we provided mackerel chunks for him and I will never forget being so delighted to watch him eat his first mackerel chunks at 4 a.m. This very poorly seal finally resting and finding the strength to eat. It was a very emotional moment and just wonderful to witness.
Lionel was stabilised at Aroha and transferred the next day onto the Cal Mac ferry to Ullapool and relayed to full-time mainland care. Lionel made an incredible recovery was successfully released back to the wild. That seal’s story will stay with me forever.
At the moment, you don’t have seals all the time. But when one is uplifted, it’s intense and you give it your all. What does a day like that look like?
Jimmy from Aroha: My day is one of wearing different hats. Responding to a call out I’m wearing my marine life medic hat. Each shout is very different, easy to complex. On arrival firstly I undertake a risk assessment of the location of the seal, access, hazards and dangers, sea state, tides, weather and day light, particular in winter with grey seal pups and little daylight hours.
After an assessment of the pup in liason with a rescue coordinator, if the decision is made for a pup to be uplifted, then I swing into action to safely catch it. It’s then off to the vets for full assessment and management plan again in liaison with the rescue coordinator; if the decision is made that the pup is potentially viable, I then put on my Aroha hat and take the pup to Aroha for care and/or treatment overnight. Our aim in Aroha is to rescucitate and ensure the pup is optimised as much as it can be for a long trip to a long term rehab facility, which can be 8 hrs away including a 3 hour ferry trip.
Ideally we try and transfer away within 24 hours which means rehydration and electrolyte tube feeding overnight to get to the early morning ferry. Length of stays can be up to 5 days depending on the condition of the pup and weather if the ferry sailings are cancelled, in which case we plan a rota for our small team to care for the pup until it’s time to leave. This is a big time committment and can be unpredictable, but always there is something new for us to learn, reflect in and share with each other.
We have now developed a collaborative supportive process with each of the agencies involved, Aroha, vet practice, marine life rescue, Calmac ferries and rehab centres.
What do you wish people knew about seals or their rescue/rehab?
Debs from Aroha: I’d wish to share that seals are fascinating, so well adapted to their environment, for example their sensitive vibrissae (whiskers) which can detect the movement of a fish from 180 metres away.
Also on getting to know seals in the rehab environment, just how individual they are, with very different personalities.
How absolutely passionate I am about working with seals, and particularly love being able to be part of a seal pup’s journey, from that first call to assess a pup, through uplift and the initial resuscitation and first aid period, and to follow it’s progress through long term rehab to hopefully successful release.
It is such a privilege to work with our small team, we are all incredibly committed to providing the best care for our pups and there has been a lot to learn and that learning is ongoing and lifelong. The support we have had from the Seal Community has also been amazing. There are some truly inspirational people out there doing incredible work to research and share their work, and who work tirelessly to promote seal welfare.
Who gets to name the seals and how do you decide?
Lily: As we work closely with the rehab center we follow lead when naming our admissions. Each season there is a theme , chocolate bars, flowers, fruit, 80s pop singers. We have a lot of fun naming our seals as we get to know their character we pick what suits them best.
Thank you for kindly taking the time to answer these questions, and for everything you do for seals!