People reminded to give resting seal pups space as winter approaches

Seal pups can be see around the island's coastline

People have been reminded to keep their distance from resting seal pups on the Manx coastline.

The Manx Wildlife Trust said the risk to Atlantic grey seal pups grew as the weather worsened during pupping season.

The young mammals can be spotted resting on beaches around the island throughout the autumn and winter.

The trust's marine officer Lara Howe said the seal pups needed to be given as "much space as possible" while resting during the rougher weather.

"They're very adorable and everybody wants to have a seal selfie, but actually it can be quite stressful for them," Ms Howe said.

As the stormier weather begins there was often a higher mortality rate as the marine mammals could be "washed off the rocks, off the beach and into the sea", she continued.

While they could swim for a time, "they can get very tired which can lead to them drowning", so allowing them to rest was important, she said.

The trust said people should give seal pups spotted on beaches as much space as possible

The plea comes after a pup was found separated from its mother in Peel last week and had to be taken to the trust's rehab centre.

Ms Howe said the charity would be "lost without" its 50 seal volunteers, known as seal sitters, who can be called upon to monitor and assess the marine mammals until they go back out to sea or are taken in for care.

Those transported the rehab centre would undergo a feeding process to fatten them up in a similar way to being weened in the wild over a period of up to 25 days.

The charity started collecting data on the seal population in 2009 and their numbers had seen a steady increase since, which meant they could now be seen at beaches around the island rather than predominately at Calf of Man, Ms Howe added.

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