She was crying out and suckling on it 💔
This past June, a Good Samaritan was walking near Mountcharles Pier in Donegal, Ireland, when they noticed a bright orange traffic cone poking out from the marshy water along the coast. Even stranger, though, was the baby animal attached to the traffic cone — a gray blob desperately clinging on for dear life.
The passerby soon realized the heartbreaking truth. The baby was an orphaned seal pup, only a few days old, and she was clinging to the traffic cone because she thought it was her mother.
“[She was] sadly crying out and trying to suckle on the traffic cone,” Seal Rescue Ireland general manager Kim Townsend Smyth told The Dodo.
Desperate to get the baby to safety, the Good Samaritan contacted experts at Seal Rescue Ireland. After monitoring the seal to make sure her mother wasn’t nearby, rescuers gently removed her from where she was clinging to the cone. They loaded her into the safety of a transport vehicle and drove her to the rescue center.
Comfortable and cared for, the seal, now named Sea Lemon, began charming rescue staff with her sunny personality.
“Sea Lemon is a very serene and bright pup,” Townsend Smyth said. “She has a quiet curiosity in the world around her. She enjoys sunbathing and relaxing on her heat mat!”
For now, Sea Lemon is still living at the rescue center, where animal experts can give her the resources she needs to grow into a healthy adult. Rescuers are optimistic that Sea Lemon will eventually be released back into the wild waters where she belongs.
“She is not out of the woods yet, but we are very hopeful, as she is bright and eating and progressing well,” Townsend Smyth said. “[W]e all have our flippers crossed for her!”