This seal was not much more than a pup at this time. I have not cropped this image much, so that Dudley visitors can identify the pool; I think it is the one which currently holds the female sea lions. 12th April 1972.
This seal was not much more than a pup at this time. I have not cropped this image much, so that Dudley visitors can identify the pool; I think it is the one which currently holds the female sea lions. 12th April 1972.
Ah, those were the days! I remember seeing quite a few Elephant Seals opposite the Moat Cafe around this time, although on each subsequent visit their number seemed to have dwindled, hopefully because of sale or transfer rather than death. I have seen it written somewhere that the Scotia expeditions in search of Elephant Seals and penguins were the last great zoo collecting trips, although a former member of staff at Flamingo Park/Land who had been due to go on a subsequently cancelled trip did say to me he had felt sorry for the great many captured penguins that refused to eat and had to be force-fed.
An interesting oddity is mentioned in a feature on April Fool jokes and hoaxes in today's Guardian.
On 1st April 1972, a few days before I took this photo, it was announced that a corpse of the Loch Ness monster had been found by a team from Flamingo Park Zoo. It turned out to be the body of an elephant seal which had recently died at Dudley, presumably a companion of the seal in this photo. I think that in 1972 Dudley and Flamingo Park were owned by the same company, but I don't remember this story at all.
This website has more details The Body of Nessie Found
