26 October 2021
All together… ahhh! There’s something about a seal which melts even the hardest heart especially when you find out he’s lost… which is where the Civil Air Support stepped in.
‘Hispi’, as he’s been named by the Scottish Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals, is a rare Arctic Ringed Seal that was spotted close to Aberdeen hundreds of miles from where he was supposed to be.
Found in a lethargic and unwell state, once Hispi’s health was restored a plan was devised to release Hispi as far north as possible, to give him the best chance of returning to his natural habitat.
CAS has a history of transporting wildlife and aquatic mammals so when the Scottish SPCA contacted CAS with a request to fly Hispi from its National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Fishcross to Shetland, operations manager and pilot Graham Mountford waded in.
Scottish SPCA staff load Hispi onto the Civil Air Support Cessna twin for the flight to Shetland. Photo: CAS
“Preparing the cabin environment to accommodate a marine mammal with unpredictable behaviour together with a team from the Scottish SPCA was just the first part of the challenge,” he said.
“Contending with the weather conditions which were forecast around the scheduled flight times added a further level of interest to the mission!”
A weather window opened though and Graham was able to get the team and their flippered friend airborne for the 75-minute flight to Sumbergh Airport on Shetland from where Hispi was taken to Hillswick Wildlife Centre.
After a night spent recovering from his airborne journey, the young seal was released into the North Sea to continue under his own navigation.
