Seals at Cleveleys

Have you ever seen seals at Cleveleys? If you’re eagle eyed they can often be seen swimming just offshore.

Be quick though to spot that it’s a cute face with twinkly eyes – and not a seagull having a swim! Look out for a black blob, that disappears and then comes back up. That’s a seal!

This is a bit blurred because it’s zoomed in quite a way. But seals appear to lie on their pack, just chilling and enjoying the view!

Sometimes live seals get washed up onto the beach. Despite how cute they look they can be quite aggressive, so please don’t approach them.

Or you’re might see an unfortunate dead one. In fact you’ll probably smell it before you see it!

Here’s a couple of encounters with seals at Cleveleys, and what to do if you find a dead one.

Live Seals at Cleveleys

On 1 August 2015 a baby seal came to visit Cleveleys, and was looked after by a local couple, trained in what to do with beached seals.

Out of the water and on the beach, the baby seal was vulnerable to passing dogs who walk on this beach. So people tried to encourage it back into the safety of the water. Not keen to swim off, and probably tired from the quite rough waves, he just paddled back to shore again.

Had he arrived on a quieter stretch of beach he could have had a rest and gathered his composure before swimming off. But no bigger than the size of a small dog, sitting on the beach spells trouble. He was gathering quite a crowd to look at his beautiful little face.

The RSPCA were called and they deployed a couple from nearby Anchorsholme. They had only recently completed a course in how to rescue and deal with stranded seals. Catching him in a towel, they covered his eyes and kept him calm until the RSPCA arrived. The RSPCA took the seal to Sea Life at Blackpool to rest and feed overnight, before taking him back to Walney.

Take a look at the rescue thanks to mediafilms –

A Big Seal at Cleveleys Beach!

You’ll often see seals at Cleveleys swimming in the water. Back in August 2010 one individual seemed particularly keen on enjoying Cleveleys!

The first of its visits was in mid July. A walker saw it and, reaching for his phone to report it to the council as a dead body, it lifted it’s head and waddled back to the water!

Next was another one (the same one?) which came on the beach near the surface-water outflow pipe at Rossall School. A small crowd of early morning walkers had a Thursday treat. Look at this beautiful face!

The following Saturday morning brought yet more excitement, once again, quite early in the morning. Someone spotted another live seal near the big rock groyne near the cafe, and alerted the Rossall Beach Group.

Three Rossall Group members went out on the beach enjoying the opportunity to get so close to such a big animal. One of them encouraged it to go back into the water by flicking seaweed. Rossall Beach isn’t a safe place for a seal to spend time resting. It spells trouble for dogs, people and the seal.

Eventually it waddled back into the sea and away to its normal life.

It returned several times that week, each time back in the same spot on North Promenade. Maybe looking for the woman who waved seaweed at it, to come back out and play!

Here’s the video to go with the event. Note how much the quality of video has improved since 2010!

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Dead Seals at Cleveleys

Rossall Beach has a dry strandline almost all year round, so all kinds of things get washed up. Including various dead animals. It’s common to see birds washed up, and quite often porpoise too. You might be lucky enough (!) to see a dead sheep – they wash down from the Wyre and Ribble river estuaries.

Sometimes you might see a dead seal. Whatever the animal is, they usually stink to high heaven and you’ll smell it before you see it!

If you do find a dead seal (or any other large animal) please report it to Wyre Council and they will remove it. Ring 01253 891000.

Why do we see Seals at Cleveleys?

Over the years, seal sightings have become increasingly common. It’s perhaps testament to the improving cleanliness of the sea water that they are thriving so well.

So why we do see seals, not just at Cleveleys, but also elsewhere on the Fylde Coast?

Did you know that there’s quite a large seal sanctuary at Walney Island? It’s not that far away as the seal swims, so it’s a fair bet that our visitors are on a day trip from there. There’s also a live Seal-Cam watching over the colony that you can also watch. Click on the photo to be redirected –

South Walney Nature Reserve is managed by Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Their first ever grey seal pups were born there in November 2015. Just look at this beautiful baby!

While you’re here…

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