Lucky seal cut from net... and back with mum
A SEAL pup has been saved from certain death after being found caught in a plastic net on a beach in the Outer Hebrides.
Rescuers found the five-week-old grey seal at North Tolsta on the Isle of Lewis.
David Yardley, area co-ordinator for the British Divers Marine Life Rescue team, and helper Lyndsey Dubberley, managed to cut it free.
Mr Yardley said: ‘It was a miracle pup. They don’t usually survive in such circumstances. The rope had gone round its neck and it’s incredible it wasn’t strangled.
‘We didn’t expect to find the pup alive after first being told about it on Sunday, but it was in a remarkably good condition considering.
‘They have some blubber around their necks, which would have helped it.
‘We have seen some horrific injuries this year and this highlights the need to keep our seas clean – particularly from plastic. This case shows what we have to deal with – and for once it had a happy ending.
‘Most unfortunately do not live. But this little fella went straight back in the sea and we found it today with its mother again.’
In Blandford, Dorset, fears have also been raised for a vulnerable otter, which has been spotted with a plastic cable tie wrapped around its neck in the River Stour.
The UK Wild Otter Trust is now seeking permission from Natural England to trap the otter and remove the tie.
Marine litter has become a serious threat to wildlife.
The Scottish Daily Mail successfully campaigned for the introduction of a bottle deposit scheme, which would see a cash deposit returned when a plastic bottle is recycled, to help cut down on plastic waste.