Leif (harbour seal) arrives from the Fisheries and Maritime Museum in Esbjerg, Denmark, to join his brother Togo at St Andrews Aquarium, Fife, Scotland. Leif flew with bmi regional into Aberdeen Airport on Wednesday 19th September, the day before his mum Nelly.
Precautions have been put in place after a second seal died at St Andrews Aquarium.
Access to the seal pool has been restricted, although members of the public can still observe them, while specialists assess and monitor the general well-being of St Andrews Aquarium’s two remaining seals, Nelly and Togo.
Both dead animals have been transported to a specialist research unit near Inverness for autopsy, in a bid ascertain if their deaths are related and, if they are, the nature of the cause.
John Mace, manager of St Andrews Aquarium said: “We are devastated at the loss of Leif, but we are lucky that Scotland has some of the foremost experts in the world on seals, and we anticipate we’ll have answers within a week.
“We are, of course, concerned about Togo and Nelly and both are being closely monitored until we have further guidance from experts as to whether there is any underlying reason for both Laurel or Leif’s death or if it is simply a tragic coincidence.”
