July 2011
Sandy Shore, a baby harbour seal rescued from Jackson's Corner, Skegness, has become the latest member of the Environment Agency's Lincshore team. The team, which addresses flood risk, consists of Halcrow, Royal Haskoning, Birse Coastal and Dredging International.
The team has sponsored the five-day-old seal, which is being cared for by staff at Natureland, Skegness. Richard Yeadon, who runs Natureland with his brother Duncan, said: “We chose the name Sandy Shore because all our rescue pups this year are named after pop stars and it seemed fitting as she has become a mascot for the Lincshore scheme. Natureland rescues between 35 and 40 seals like Sandy Shore every year.”
Marcello Cali, principal engineer explains, “To help sponsor Sandy Shore, Halcrow’s Peterborough-based employees held a dress down Friday event, and sold Ellie Bendall’s ‘too pretty to eat’ fairy cakes and Karen Gembitsky’s rustic sausage rolls. The office raised over £50 towards Sandy Shore’s care.”
Visitors to the Lincshore information hub, which is moving to Chapel Point cafe in Chapel St Leonards, can win a family ticket to Natureland by successfully guessing how many kilos of fish Sandy Shore will have eaten by the time she reaches her release weight of 28kg. The competition closing date is Friday, 15 July.
Mark Robinson, Environment Agency area coastal advisor, said: “Lincshore is a multi-million pound flagship project that helps to reduce flood risk to thousands of people living, working and visiting the Lincolnshire coast. The Lincshore information hub was set up to provide people with a one-stop-shop where they can go to find out more about the scheme.
“Last year, we found a sick seal pup during the scheme and decided that, this year, we would like to support the work of Natureland and give another seal the chance to be returned to the wild.”