Seal Rescue Plastic Pallet Boxes Stand the Test of Time

Everyone is capable of caring for nature, and Time for Nature is the theme of this year’s World Environment Day, which took place last Friday, 5 June). Even small acts of kindness can have a big impact as British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) discovered when Goplasticpallets.com donated two of its plastic pallet boxes in the summer of 2012.

At the time, the UK’s leading marine mammal rescue charity was looking for a durable vessel to act as a pen for the care and treatment of seal pups found malnourished, separated or injured. The vessel needed to be large enough to comfortably house the seal pups and easy to clean. A Google search lead BDMLR to Goplasticpallets.com, the UK’s plastic pallet experts, who generously donated two GoPalletBox 1210S 3R – a 610 litre plastic pallet box with smooth, solid walls.

On 4th August 2012, BDMLR’s Moray Seal Holding Unit welcomed its first guests – two abandoned seal pups who were picked up from seaside villages Hopeman and Cullen in Moray, Scotland. The plastic pallet boxes provided a clean contained environment for the seal pups on arrival whilst they were given fluids at regular intervals and then monitored overnight, before being taken to the Scottish SPCA Wildlife Rescue Centre near Alloa.

Eight years on, these original plastic pallet boxes are still going good and strong and BDMLR has since ordered a further 10 pallet boxes for its holding units.

Dan Jarvis, Welfare Development and Field Support Officer at BDMLR, said: “We’ve been using the 12 plastic pallet boxes as temporary holding pens for seal pups either for overnight respite and release or to relay them onward to a rehabilitation centre once they’ve had some recovery time, as the journeys can often be long.

“We now have pens in Northumberland, Suffolk and Cornwall, as well as the original pallet boxes in our Moray unit, all of which are used regularly and really help with reducing the strain on our volunteer resources, the rehabilitation centres, and of course providing better local care for the seals pups whilst they’re with us.”

In these exceptional times it seems UK wildlife is thriving, according to recent reports by the National Trust, and spotting a seal colony is one of Britain’s great wildlife spectacles, boasting 36% of the world’s population of grey seals.

If you spot an abandoned seal pup, contact BDMLR’s rescue hotline on 01825 765546 #WorldEnvironmentDay #ForNature