Storm Eleanor may have left plenty of devastation in its wake along the coastline.
But a group of volunteers made sure a young seal wasn’t added to its list.
The young pup was found washed up and terrified on Magheroarty Pier this morning after being washed in by the huge tide.
The seal, dubbed Salty, was spotted by Magheroarty Community centre manager Máire Mhic Pháidín whilst opening the public toilets at the pier.
“I was trying to open the toilets when I noticed something stirring in the corner. There was a lot of seaweed washed up on the pier and I suddenly noticed there was young seal sitting in the middle of it and it was obviously stranded,” she said.
Máire, with the help of locals Rueben Ó Conluain and Pádraig McFadden, set about hatching a plan to get Salty back to sea.
Armed with a coaxing oar from a nearby boat, the trio managed to steer Salty in the right direction and back out to sea.
Salty, not quite sure what was going on, did give a couple of snaps to the oar just to let his helpers know that he wouldn’t be rushed.
Máire added “It all ended well but not before he snapped at us a couple of times. Eventually, we got him in the right direction and he swam well. All’s well that ends well.”
Click on the video below to see Salty finally making it back to sea after his ordeal.
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