14.06.2022 Tuesday 10th day off

The Seal Center

We had a quiet morning because the Seal Center didn't open until three o'clock. When Gabi and I were on the balcony again to smoke, much to Gisela's dismay, I said to Gabi, 'Look, the oystercatchers on the roof just had babies. And I'm not allowed to.' Gabi dryly countered, 'You can't.' I called her stupid and when Gisela heard about it, she commented that Gabi wasn't stupid, but mean. Since we didn't take it too seriously, we laughed. Otherwise, the morning was quiet and then we went to our cafe first, and what did we eat? The best cheesecake in the world, of course.

When we arrived at the Seal Center, I was initially disappointed because we got a 'tour' for children. The movie that was shown was quite interesting but didn't offer me much new information. But then Andre came, who looked quite rustic with his white beard and longer hair, but what he had to offer was simply fantastic. Since he didn't have a seal with him, he asked a child to be the seal. A box was the beach and the blanket on top was the sand, and Mareike was supposed to lie on the box as a seal pup. When she lay on her back on the box, Andre said, 'Well, now we have a problem because the little seal pup is dead. When a seal is on its back, it has died, and I can't help it anymore.' He urged Mareike to lie on her stomach on the box and explained that a seal can only move using its front flippers, and Mareike made a great effort to get off the spot, but it only worked with a little help. Mareike and all the other children learned how to bark like a seal, and the accompanying grandma was asked to help rescue the poor little pup. She was given a towel to throw over the seal and hold it tight. After being asked, Mareike thrashed around wildly, and Grandma had a hard time holding the seal. And the seal had to endure quite a bit. Its temperature was taken between its feet because a seal's bottom is much deeper, and lo and behold, the seal had a fever. What does it need then? A cooling with water, and Mareike got some water poured over her head. And since seals only take in water through their food and the little one was completely starved, it also had to be demonstrated how to insert a tube into its stomach and administer water through a funnel. Although Andre had announced this as the most difficult exercise for Mareike, he only held the tube in front of her and didn't pour any water into the funnel. Mareike and Grandma received a big round of applause, and now everyone was allowed to pass by a two-day-old seal pup very quietly and admire it through the glass pane as it lay there under its red light. Finally, we got a seal stamp on our hand and a coloring sheet. A great activity, perfectly prepared for children and excellently executed.

Unfortunately, this rescue center is very small, and although Andre's wife is a veterinarian and has been working on the topic for years, they are only allowed to be a rescue center and have to bring all the animals to a large center on the mainland. All attempts to do this work themselves do not meet any requirements. By the way, it is a fact that 2/3 of all seal pups born die. Water pollution, overfishing, compromised immune systems, and more frequent lungworm infestations make it difficult for the young animals to survive.

Now Gabi and Gisela were thirsty, and before Nieblum, we followed a sign to a cliff cafe. Since our Edeka market would probably close at 6 p.m., we considered eating here as well, but by the time the rather unfriendly waiter arrived, it was past 5:30, and we couldn't order anything anymore. So we just had a drink, and then Gabi and I walked to the cliff because this is the only spot where Föhr has a cliff coast. We left poor Gisela in the car, and that was a good thing. Because we had to go down through thick, dry sand relatively steeply to get to the beach. But the cliff coast wasn't very impressive, and on the way back, we stumbled more than we walked. In addition, both of us smokers ran out of breath, and we had to take breaks. What a climb!

Then we optimistically went to Utersum. The first restaurant: 'Did you make a reservation? - Sorry then.' The second restaurant: 'Did you make a reservation? - Sorry then.' Do I need to say that it was the same in the third and fourth restaurants? At least we reserved for tomorrow in the fifth restaurant and came home to throw two packages of ready-made fried potatoes into the pan, fry some eggs, and open a jar of red beets. At least we got full.

And in the evening, there was a beautiful full moon!