I have always loved seals. The first time I met one in the wild, I was on a rough boat trip to the remote Scottish island of Eigg in the Inner Hebrides. It was Easter and the seas were mountainous. I was only ten and it all seemed a little scary … until I noticed some little black heads with their beady eyes staring up from the rough waters. As my eyes adjusted, I noticed dozens of them. My enduring love for seals was sealed.
When on Taransay island for a year, my Labrador, Inca, used to leap into the freezing Hebridean water and play hide-and-seek. Have you ever noticed how much seals resemble Labradors? Sometimes I couldn’t tell mammal and dog apart. My most enduring memory, however, is of Nelson, the famous one-eyed seal of Looe in Devon, which inspired me to put the statue in chapter one. Nelson was the most famous resident of Looe for more than twenty-five years and I often saw him in the harbour. The fishermen would throw him fish and people travelled from far and wide to watch. When he died, there was such mourning that a bronze statue was erected in his memory. Seals have a way of looking into your soul with those big doleful eyes, just like Lulu does in the story. I’ll always love seals. Reassuringly, they remind me of my childhood.
Plastic rubbish is littering our oceans and threatening the lives of millions of marine animals around the world. Seals are curious creatures and can get caught in fishing nets, plastic waste and discarded rubbish. We all have to do our bit to help protect these animals and keep our oceans healthy.
When you can, try to say no to single-use plastics. Don’t use plastic straws, and ask your parents to bring their own bags when they go shopping. If you do have to use plastic, make sure you clean up after yourself. If you go to the beach or to the park, don’t drop your rubbish on the sand or on the grass! Look for a recycling bin or, if there isn’t one around, take it home and recycle it there. We can make clothes, shoes and all sorts of other things out of recycled plastic, which is so much better than it ending up in the ocean.