A volunteer feeds a seal a herring at the Pieterburen seal creche, north of the town of Groningen, northern Netherlands, Thursday Jan. 12, 2012. Storms that have lashed the Dutch coast this year have created a wave of orphaned baby seals, some so young their umbilical cords are still attached, wrenched from their mothers and washed up on beaches and dikes. An existing Pieterburen seal rehabilitation and research center (SRRC) near the northern city of Groningen has been so inundated with pups and older seals in recent weeks it has erected a temporary tent to house them while they are nurtured back to health before being returned to the wild.
Section:Photo
