Seal caught in plastic ring for six years rescued

Members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue removed a discarded paint tin seal from around the animal's neck

A seal in Cornwall has been rescued after more than six years with a blue plastic ring caught around its neck.

On Sunday, Seal Research Trust (SRT) surveyor Andy Rogers reported a sighting of the adult male grey seal, named Commuter, on the north coast.

Members of British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) attended the scene and removed a discarded paint tin seal from around the animal's neck.

Commuter's injuries were deemed "not as deep as feared".

SRT volunteers said they had been tracking the Commuter, who was released after being freed, since September 2017.

Seals are large animals weighing over 200kg and can be defensive when they feel threatened

The blue ring was caught around Commuter's neck

The seal was given his name to reflect his routine trips up and down the north Cornwall coast.

In a joint press release, BDMLR and SRT said since 2017, Commuter had travelled to inaccessible locations or positions on accessible beaches that made a rescue attempt by BDMLR impossible on safety grounds.

If the seal had gone into the sea during the operation, a rescue would have been impossible.

'Hugely stressful'

They said the safe capture and disentanglement of adult seals carried extra risk to rescuers, as they were large animals weighing over 200kg (31st 7lb) and could be defensive when they felt threatened.

Sue Sayer MBE, director of SRT said: "Waiting for a rescue to be organised is hugely stressful.

She said: "Despite Andy's best efforts to speak to visitors and explain the situation's need for caution, people on the clifftop still managed to disturb the seals below on three occasions.

Commuter's injuries were deemed "not as deep as feared", before being released

"Over the next couple of hours, a third of the seals stampeded into the sea to get away from the perceived threat and Andy's optimism for a possible rescue was dwindling.

"Luckily, Commuter remained sleeping, so the first opportunity to rescue him in six years was not lost."

Dan Jarvis, BDMLR area coordinator said "the circumstances were perfect."

He said: "It was low tide, meaning access was at its easiest for us with all the equipment we needed, including a cargo net, herd boards and a stretcher.

"We had medics assist Andy on the clifftop raising awareness of what was happening to prevent further disturbance incidents, while a team of six medics stealthily accessed the cove.

"After a standoff, we were able to wrap Commuter in the net to slow him down, then placed the stretcher on top to safely restrain him so his entanglement and injury could be assessed."