THE release of six rescued seal pups was very nearly scuppered after the clutch went on the Land Rover which was transporting them to Gwithian Beach.

With pup season coming to an end and the rescued seal pups at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary successfully reaching their target weights ready to be released back into the wild, the animal care team embarked on a pup release this morning to Gwithian beach with Odin, Shrek, Hulk, Pepper, Frost and Aquaman all ready to go waiting in the trailer.

Unfortunately, the sanctuary’s Land Rover had other ideas and decided that the time for the clutch to go was in fact a ten minute into the journey.

The sanctuary had to come up with a plan B for their stranded pups, so they decided to attach the trailer to their other Land Rover, meaning that the animal care team could then continue with the release, but the delay left a short time period for the team to get the pups to the beach for their release.

Tamara Cooper, head of animal care “It was a race against the clock as we only release the pups when it is high tide, so we didn’t have a lot of time spare to get the pups to Gwithian!”

"Whilst the pups were waiting in the trailer they were looking a little bit anxious and obviously having a nosey around these unfamiliar surroundings. Hulk on the other hand wasn’t remotely phased and in fact spent this waiting time having a nice nap in the trailer!

"Luckily when the team and the pups arrived at Gwithian, the release went really well, with only Shrek hanging back a little bit behind the others before joining them in the sea."