We receive a call for a seal, but it’s a ringed seal,
which is native to the Arctic. Literally thousands of miles away. - We think that it’s the first
ringed seal ever in Ireland. We don’t know
how she got here, we don’t know why she’s here, but we know we have to help. We think that Cloudberry
is eight months old, but she weighs only 19 pounds. So she’s very underweight. Seal Rescue Ireland rescues
sick, injured, and orphaned seals. Cloudberry definitely could not have
been found by a better group of people. Ringed seals are meant to
be built like basketballs, because they need all of that
blubber for the cold Arctic waters. - She does have some
wounds on her flippers, and behind her neck, and
on the top of her head. - I’m really worried about her. But our goal is to get
Cloudberry up to 55 pounds, and healthy enough to
return her back to the ocean. That’s a really good sign that
she’s going to put on some weight. - We’re just taking it
one step at a time, hoping that she’ll
be able to recover. - Cloudberry’s been with us
for about a month now. She’s worked her weight
up to 44 pounds. She’s actually proving
to be quite the diva. - As her waistline grows,
so does her personality. She will intentionally splash us
when we enter her kennel. If you even look at her, she just kind of snorts at you. And it’s very clear that she’s saying,
“This is my turf.” She’s been nicknamed
Princess Cloudberry because it’s all about her. Cloudberry has started
to get so round that she’s having trouble
turning around in her bath. She’s well on her
road to recovery. Today we are going to introduce Cloudberry to the nursery
pool for the first time. She’ll be able to
build muscle mass, and she’ll learn all of the skills that
she needs to survive in the wild. - She’s hopefully going to
take right to the water. And we’ll see how she interacts
with the rest of the seals. - Now the problem is all of our pools are full with gray
seals and some common seals, which are much
bigger than Cloudberry. We need to closely observe
and see how she does. Because the last thing we want is to
introduce her into a dangerous situation where the other
seals might pick on her. But she’s just gotten
too big for her bath. So we have to
take the chances. After a little bit of hesitation, she gets in and she’s
like a fish to water. And the other seals
are a little curious. They are wondering, who is this
stranger that is now in our pool? After a little bit of harassment, the other seals quickly learned that
they want nothing to do with Cloudberry. That pretty much set the tone
for the pool from then on. - Cloudberry’s had about another
six weeks in the pools now, and she’s up
to about 63 pounds. So it’s time to think
about releasing her. - The goal is to get her as close
to her Arctic home as possible. Maybe Iceland, or
the Netherlands. I’m feeling really confident that Cloudberry
is going to succeed in the wild. - Because of the coronavirus and basically a lockdown on all
transportation in or out of the country, we have made the decision
to release this seal now. We just can’t keep her here any longer
because summer is approaching, and this is an Arctic seal. We can’t travel
internationally anymore. So the best thing that we can do is try to get her to the northern
tip of Ireland and release her, and just hope that she
heads north to the Arctic. - Cloudberry has no idea
what’s about to happen. - Now she’s peaceful. But she’s about to take
a five hour journey north. So we’re going to do
the best we can. - We’ve got Cloudberry
here in the back. - The sun is shining. It’s the perfect day for me,
but for an Arctic seal this is extremely
hot temperatures. - We’ve got to keep the windows up
and the air conditioning on to keep her nice and cool. - How’s she doing? I got us some coffee. - Doing good. Everything with the coronavirus
is changing by the day. So, I don’t know, there
could be roadblocks. Yeah, wish us luck. The sunniest day in Ireland ever. So I’ve got some ice
to cool off Cloudberry. Hey sweetheart. Are you hot back here? - We are one hour away from releasing
Cloudberry back into the wild. Everything is going well. Mel, got anything to say? - Yeah, it just fittingly seems the further north we get,
the colder and colder it is, which is really good for her. She seems to
be doing just fine. Princess Cloudberry is finally as far
north as we can possibly get her. It seems that she’s
very much ready to go. So we’re going to be
opening this cage shortly and saying goodbye to her. (Laughing) Oh no! To be honest, Cloudberry's
hesitation to get into the water doesn’t surprise me at all. She has been dramatic about every stage of this journey. So of course she’s going
to be a diva until the end. It’s just been amazing
to watch Cloudberry to go from this tiny
pup in the truck to this monster of a seal. It’s such a long
journey to the Arctic. But we know she’s
up for a challenge. I have a feeling that wherever
Princess Cloudberry is now, she is ruling her kingdom.
I'm not crying you're crying
"Ringed seals are meant to be built like basketballs"
Is there any way we can know if she makes it to the arctic?
Seal Rescue Ireland serving up quality seal content as usual <3
The Dodo mixing up Weddell and Ringed seals...eh.
I hope Princess Cloudberry is doing well back in the Arctic!
I now accept Princess Cloudberry as the only reigning monarch, Elizabeth has got to go.
such a great story!
I hope princess made it back home.
Oh Cloudberry, you are so cute! I loved seeing this video
It's kinda cute how the keepers referred to Cloudberry's mannerisms as being a "diva," when it seems like she's really just kind of a bitchy seal. It's one thing to splash water and make tough noises at handlers, but it's another thing to get into fights with other seals that are only curious about her. Seals are usually pretty chill creatures.
At least, that's what I thought at first. In hindsight, I wonder if that's a kind of defense mechanism after her treatment as a pup. Cloudberry was found in the trunk of a car, with injuries, and underweight. She might have gone through a lot at a very young age.