The injured seal rescued from the Thames by Kew Bridge has died.
It died on the way to a specialist wildlife centre after being rescued by RSPCA on Thursday (October 13) just before noon.
A spokesman said: “Very sadly, the seal was so unwell that he died before he arrived at the specialist wildlife centre we hoped would care for him. It is believed that the cause of death was underlying disease.”
The animal had been spotted by rowers in Barnes and Hammersmith over recent days, and had hauled himself onto a pontoon near Kew Bridge before firefighters assisted RSPCA staff with the rescue.
The charity, which had initially thought the animal to be a female, was transporting it to a centre in East Sussex.
The pinniped had been spotted outside Emanuel boat house by Barnes Bridge on the morning of October 7 by Niall Kenny, who grabbed video footage of the animal.
The rowing coach at Latymer Upper school in Hammersmith then saw the same animal later that day, this time near the Latymer pontoon. He said she had looked distressed.
He told getwestlondon : “It was early in the day and we were having a row before school, at around 7am.
“I saw the seal and it swimming quite close to one of the boats the boys were in. It was really close.
“The seal was going under the water and coming back up again. Then it swam to the bank and climbed ashore, where it lay quite still on the slipway.
“To be honest it maybe looked a little distressed on the bank, maybe a little bit at a loss and unaware of its surroundings.
“Then a few hours later I saw it again at the Latymer pontoon.”
In happier news, a second seal rescued from the banks of the Thames in Richmond yesterday (Thursday, October 13) is now recovering at the Mallydams Wood Wildlife Centre in Hastings, East Sussex.
Sian Ridley, an animal collection officer with the RSPCA, said: “We have nicknamed him ‘Sandy’ after the foreshore where he was found.
“It's not uncommon for seals to venture up rivers away from the sea looking for food and they normally manage to find their way back, but in this case it was clear the seal was unwell and in need of rescue.”
She added: “We are all hoping for a happy ending for Sandy after the sad death of the first seal, rescued from just up the river earlier that day.
“We did all we could to try and save the other seal’s life, but sadly he was just too unwell.”
Simon Fathers, manager at Mallydams Wood, said: “It is too soon to say for sure how this seal is, he is not out of the woods yet, but we have everything crossed for him down here.
“He has signs of an infection and so we have done blood tests and will continue to monitor and care for him in the hope he will recover and be able to be released back to the wild when he is well enough.”
Anyone who sees a seal they believe to be injured or in danger can call the RSPCA on 0300 123 4999.
