Grim ends for seals as injuries by plastic soar
Line wrapped around another animal in Norfolk Frisbee is stuck around seal’s neck on beach
Pictures: THE FRIENDS OF HORSEY SEALS VOLUNTEER DAVID WYSE ON RISE IN PLASTIC INJURIES Plastic ring is biting into seal’s neck at Blakeney Point A SEAL is pictured with a frisbee stuck around its neck as an animal charity warns plastic waste on our beaches injured a record number last year.
The toys caused most cases along with fishing paraphernalia, according to The Friends of Horsey Seals, which monitors colonies in Norfolk.
The area is one of the main breeding grounds for common and grey seals in the UK. But many are suffering horrendous deaths as plastic rings and nylon lines cut into their necks and cause infections, with most victims starving.
Volunteer David Wyse said the past 12 months had been “worse than any other” at the National Trust seal-spotting site of Blakeney Point. He said: “We don’t know where all these frisbees are coming from.
“It is the height of pupping season so we need the right conditions to catch them so they can be treated. Seals are also caught in fishing nets and nylon rope. The problem is getting worse. We have been watching the seals for 15 years and it has never been as bad as this. The injuries can be really, really bad.”
Four seals await capture for treatment and they know of five entangled in nylon rope and nets.
One saved last week had fishing nets around its neck and is being treated by the RSPCA.
The organisation treated and released six grey seals from Norfolk in 2018, the highest figure for one year.
Alison Charles, manager of the RSPCA’s East Winch Wildlife Centre, said it had between two and four in previous years – and none before 2008.
Pupping season starts in October and carries on into January and February. More than 1,600 pups were born on the three-mile stretch last year.
We have been watching the seals 15 years and it has never been as bad as this