Our latest rummage in the Advertiser's archives has brought up this story from 15 years ago, reporting on the rescue of two tiny seal pups in Helensburgh and Shandon.

Here's how we reported the news in the Advertiser on December 30, 2004...

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TWO tiny seal pups were rescued from near death on the shores of Helensburgh and Lomond last week.

Workers at Timbercraft boatyard in Shandon found a young grey seal under a boat they were about to repair.

The baby seal, which is estimated to be four to six weeks old, was found sheltering benea a hull on the beach in Shandon on Monday (December 20).

‘Shandon’ as he has now been called, was in poor health and was taken to a wildlife centre for treatment.

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Hessilhead Wildlife Centre founder Gay Christie said: “He’s underweight and has a chest infection and would have gone downhill steadily if we hadn’t come to the rescue.”

Gay continued: “It’s not unusual to get seal pups coming in at this time of year - their mothers leave them at three or four weeks old to fend for themselves and some don’t manage too well.

“They lose so much weight that they’re getting cold in the sea and come on to the land to heat up.

"If you get some stormy weather we do find that brings them in as well.”

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On Wednesday another pup of a similar age was found up against the sea wall on Helensburgh’s East Esplanade near the Esso garage.

It is described as “seriously underweight and in poor condition” and had dog bites on it.

Both the seal pups are now being cared for at the centre in Ayrshire where they will stay until they reach a weight of 50kg, which could take two or three months.

They will then be released back into the Firth of Clyde.

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