The male seal pup, who was found without a mother on the coast of England when he was very young, was taken into protection and was released into the wild a few months later, was photographed resting on the coast of France, hundreds of kilometers away.
The orphaned seal pup, called Salsa, was cared for for four months at the Royal Animal Protection Agency’s (RSPCA) East Winch Wildlife Center in Norfolk, and was released into the sea in October after being determined to be ready.
Photographer Jean-Luc Bourgain spotted Salsa in the port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer.
He researched the tag number on the seal and found where it had been left, and called the Wildlife Center in England to report that the Salsa looked healthy and well.
It is understood that Salsa has traveled 402 kilometers after being released into nature.
Salsa weighed just 12kg when she was found separated from her mother on Heacham South beach in eastern England last June.
She was cared for at the East Winch Wildlife Center for four months, and was expected to grow and become strong enough to survive on its own in the wild, according to the Animal Protection Agency’s statement.
She weighed 39.5kg when she was released into the wild at The Wash Bay, near Norfolk, in October.
‘He was a naughty pup’
“We were delighted to hear that the salsa looked so good, that it made it all the way to France and enjoyed liberation there,” said Evangelos Achilleous, of the RSPCA’s Wildlife Centre.
He described the Achilleous Salsa as a “very mischievous” pup, “who emptied the water by unplugging the pool where he swam several times a day.”
“We tried tying weights so he wouldn’t be able to unplug, but Salsa usually managed to get past our obstacles, until he was taken to the open-air pool. He has no plug!” he added.
The distance between The Wash cove near Norfolk on the east coast of England, where Salsa is released into the wild, and Boulogne-sur-Mer in France, where it was last seen, is 402 kilometers.
Photographing Salsa in the typical “banana” pose, French photographer Jan-Luc Bourgain is also a member of a network that monitors marine animals and alerts them when they are in distress.
“I contacted him to learn a little more about this seal. It was great to let people who have looked at him before, that he is doing very well,” he said.