A TINY 10 day old seal pup beached in the Severn Estuary has lead to a team of rescue workers to seek training in helping sea mammals.

Twenty crew members from the Severn Area Rescue Association, a charitable organisation based in Sharpess, attended a sea mammal training course this weekend to teach them vital skills for helping beached whales, dolphins and seals.

As a result of climate change British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) says there will be more and more cases of sea mammals losing their way and getting beached in the Severn Estuary.

After a distressing rescue where SARA was called to help a seal pup stranded near Sharpness last summer coxswain of the crew Geoff Dawe decided his crew should get professional training in how to deal with beached sea mammals.

"It was quite a distressing rescue operation. It took us two hours to contact a sea mammal expert in Cornwall who was able to tell us the seal was probably around 10 days old. It took eight to nine hours before we could help it back into the water at high tide.

"We had no idea whether it was injured or stuck or just scared. It was a very difficult situation to deal with.

"This was when I contacted the BDMLR and they immediately said they could offer some training in how to deal with sea mammals.

"We have had dolphins come down the Severn before and we have been told that this will happen more frequently because of climate change."

Rising sea levels and changes in water temperature all have an effect on sea mammals who can be easily disorientated and swim in the wrong direction.

On Saturday the SARA crew attended a training day at the Gloucestershire Outdoor Education Centre in South Cerny for lectures and hands-on training with life-size weighted models of sea mammals.

The crew, who are all volunteers, were given training using a two tonne whale in the water, as well as life-size dolphins and seals.

Mr Dawe, said: "It was a very intensive course, but all the crew have come away with excellent knowledge.

"For instance I didn’t realise that a dolphin's skin is very sensitive and if you pull it with your hands you can tear it. Also you must protect its blow hole because if it gets water in it the animal can drown."

The crew were also taught the biology of all sea mammals, how to spot injury or sickness and how to handle the animals, some of which can be vicious such as seals which have a sharp bite. Mr Dawe added: "I was really proud of my team, they worked incredibly hard. I believe we will now be ready to deal with any incident of a sea mammal becoming beached in the Severn."