From Shetland to the Solway
This pup probably isn't lost. It's most likely waiting for its mum — and the sea could drown it. Here's how to tell when a pup truly needs you, and how to help when it does.
If you only remember this
It feels like kindness. It isn't. Pups rest on land for hours, a white-coated pup can barely swim, and if mum comes back, it's to the place she left it.
Find a spot out of sight, dogs on leads. She's probably feeding just offshore, and she'll often come back on the high tide.
A thin neck, jutting hips, weepy eyes, a wound, netting, or crying that never stops — that's a pup asking for help.
Scots law is on your side: you can take a suffering seal into care. Call ahead, handle gently, write down what you did.
Seen a pup in trouble?
Pin the spot, snap a photo, tell us what you see. The rescue numbers are right there too.Most lone pups aren't abandoned.
They're waiting.
Usually something parted them from mum — a boat, a walker, a dog off the lead. Boat crews, please hang back and slow down near the rocks and beaches where seals rest. They're protected by law, and for good reason.
Know your pup
Alone on the beach is normal. Alone in the waves, or no mum for many hours, is a worry.
Read the signs
A well-fed pup is round as a rugby ball, with no neck to speak of. Hunger changes that, and fast.
Listen
A pup calls for its mother with a wobbling, heartbreaking “maaa” — so like a baby that it stops people in their tracks. What matters is how often, and for how long.
Our best impression of a pup's voice. Hear the real thing once and you'll never forget it.
Watch & wait
The hardest part is doing nothing. It's also the kindest. Unless the pup is hurt, tangled or in danger, settle somewhere out of sight and give mum a few hours — ideally through a high tide.
And then, so often, this.
Your legal right
Seals are protected in Scotland. But the law also knows that sometimes a person has to step in — and it gives you the right to.
If a seal is sick, injured or starving, you can take it into care so it can recover and go home to the sea. You're covered when:
Seals are protected: outside exceptions like this one, it's an offence to kill, injure or capture a live seal, on purpose or recklessly. Follow the steps and you're on solid ground.
Harassing seals at an officially protected resting place is an offence — including crowding them with a boat. Remember the mum at 11:05.
This legislative content is a plain-English summary of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, Part 6. It isn’t legal advice. If you can, ring British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) before you lift the pup. Their numbers are in the report form.
Rescue it right
Use the pup checker. Watch for mum unless it's injured, tangled or in danger.
Report the pup so your local Seal Savvy crew knows. The form has British Divers Marine Life Rescue's numbers too: their trained volunteers can advise, may come out, and can help find a seal rescue centre or vet.
Thick gloves, a large towel or blanket, a pet carrier or a strong box with air holes, and ideally a second person.
Approach from behind. Lay the towel over its head and body to calm it. Keep hands clear of the mouth — seals bite hard. Lift with the towel under its body, never by flippers or neck.
Somewhere quiet, dark and airy, away from pets and children. Don't feed it, give it water or put it in water.
Take it to the seal rescue centre or vet you agreed by phone. Note anything you saw — it helps their treatment.
Record time, place, photos and condition with the report tool, report it to the Scottish Government, and wash your hands well — seals carry infections.
Report a seal
Drop a pin, take a photo, tell us what you see. No signal on the beach? We'll keep your report safe on your phone until you're back in range.
After you report
Rescue charities, including the Scottish SPCA and BDMLR, are stretched thin. In remote places a reported seal isn’t always collected, even when help has been promised. Your second visit could be the one that saves the pup.
From a distance, as before. Is the pup still there? Thinner, quieter, or gone?
Ring whoever you reported it to. Give the time and place of your report, and ask when someone is coming.
You can lawfully take the pup into care and bring it to a vet. Here’s how. Or ring a local vet and ask for their advice.
Send an update through Seal Savvy, so the local crew knows the pup is still waiting, or that it’s safe.
Join the network
On every rural shoreline there's someone who walks the same shore each morning and notices. We're bringing those people together — trained, local, and ready when a pup needs someone.
Somewhere on , there's a pup who'll be glad you did this. We'll be in touch soon.