Almost 200 seals have been successfully rehabilitated and released back to the wild by the Irish Seal sanctuary in the last 16 years. This release was different.

It started off quite normally. 3 young common seals were released by the Transition Year students from Moyle Park College on a wet windy November afternoon. TV3 filmed the event and all present enjoyed the day out. All headed home. All bar the crew from the Sanctuary. As is normal, they wait back long after the release to ensure that the seals have acclimatised sufficiently. On this occasion however, one seal, Gypsy, kept coming back onto shore and despite the best efforts of Brendan and Kevin from the Sanctuary refused to "go home".

We waited till long after dark and finally decided to take Gypsy back to the sanctuary. On arrival, she polished off some fish and got back into Loch Emma for a swim before hauling out for a sleep.

She is presently enjoying her second stay at the Sanctuary and plans are under way for another release, again in Dublin bay, possibly in a week or so. Watch this space for details.