Ian Ellis is a birdwatcher. He carries his binoculars, camera, and notebook with him wherever he goes. Nothing quite beats the sight of a rare bird species, especially with binoculars to see every detail of it. On one birdwatching session by the North Sea, Ian caught a visual of something a whole lot stranger.

In the mud, close to the marshlands, were several cows staring down at a trapped animal in the mud. From a distance, it’s pretty doggy-looking. It’s got the snout and eyes of one. In fact, I could hardly blame anyone who’d think it was a dog.

But a dog it was not. For one, dogs have floppy ears.

This was a seal pup. So you know, a “water dog” as some people like to affectionately call it. It was helpless in the mud, with only this small herd of cows as its company. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of being helplessly covered in mud while a bunch of strangers are gathered around me.

Most likely, this seal was swept by the North Sea’s tide.

What do we do now, though? Taking care of a lost bird or a scared puppy is one thing.

A marine mammal is kind of a different thing.

After some contacting by phone, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) got word of Ian’s discovery. These marsh areas and anything living in them are under their protection. Clearly, this includes the lost seal pup.

And fortunately, there is an organization in the region that specializes in seal rescue.

That organization is Skegness Natureland Seal Sanctuary.

Duncan Yeadon of the Seal Sanctuary spoke about the rescue to ABC news.

“We were able to give advice about how to take the seal out of the situation, and Ellis was able to recover it with the help of wardens.”

When the seal made it into veterinary care, the details finally poured out. The seal was about 5 days old when she was abandoned in the marshlands.

She was underweight, suffering from dehydration, and was dealing with a chest infection causing her breathing issues.

This seal pup had a lot of cards dealt to her and she desperately needed someone to clear her hands. Yeadon gave more information on what situation the seal was in. It might’ve been obvious, but she wouldn’t have survived had Ian not stumbled upon her.

Considering the circumstances she was rescued from, they gave her a pretty fitting name, “Celebration”. It’s because the Sanctuary’s 50th anniversary was in full swing when she was rescued.

Can’t say I’ve met many girls with that name.

Now it’ll take a while before Celebration is nursed back to health. It won’t be as easy as stuffing her full of food and giving her vitamins, obviously. She first needs to be on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for a while and will need a couple of months to put on some healthy weight.

But when she finally gets released back into the wild, there’ll be an actual celebration.

So let’s hope for the best.

Ian was lucky to have found the lost pup, and she was lucky that he was around. All thanks to this chance encounter, she’ll live to see her days as a grown-up seal. I hope she gets to eat all the fish she wants.

Watch the video below!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: On Demand News, ABC News, Skegness Natureland Seal Sanctuary