There is a circus setting up down in the Claddagh – a couple of seals were peering out from the back of a truck. The truck was fitted with a water tank, and some of the staff were filling an outside pool for them while I was there this evening. But ten or twenty yards from their truck cage is the fast-flowing Corrib where wild seals often swim, sometimes popping up at the Spanish Arch. I wonder if one of the seals managed to get out of their cage and reach the water – would it want to come back ?
I don’t think these seals could survive in the wild. I’m not sure if the story I heard is true or not, I will have to remember to ask Micheal Gerbola on Tuesday myself, but someone said to me that these guys were born in captivity & that the Gerbolas actually rescued them. I was there a good bit over the last few days because Nic is performing with the Circus Gerbola on Tuesday the 26th & Monday the 1st & the way they are treated was lovely. They are treated like 1 of the family. Everyone one of the guys working there goes to have a chat to them & when they’re out give them a rub.
In any other circus I would agree with you (ie: that 1 that was in the Paddys Day Parade) but not the Gerbolas. I have gotten to know them of late & had a lot of dealings with them & I know that they really do do their best for their animals. They’re all treated like 1 of the family.
Hi,
If they were born in captivity, then you are right – they would find it difficult to survive in the wild. But I wonder if they found themselves in the open sea, would they just keep swimming [i.e. based on instinct – rather than how they were treated by their handlers]. The Claddagh has to be one of the few places where they might glimpse a wild seal from their cage.