Marine medics appeal for help to locate seal pup entangled in rope near Bridlington

They were alerted to the pup's plight by a member of the public on Saturday and scrambled their Marine Mammal Medics to try to locate the beleaguered animal.

In a post on their Facebook page the BDMLR said: “The young pup has a variety of different ropes on him, which will cause severe injury to him as he grows.

“If anyone spots this seal in the region (or any others they are concerned about), call us on 01825 765546.”

BDMLR spokeswoman Emily Mayman said: "The seal was unfortunately frightened back into the water by approaching beachgoers where a drone user spotted the seal swimming with its entanglement trailing behind it.

“The seal then swam north towards Bridlington.

“Marine Mammal Medics were dispatched to Bridlington and Fraisthorpe to check if the seal had resurfaced.

“The seal was spotted again where members of public did the right thing in keeping their distance and called for help.

“They sent photographs to our Head Office who were able to confirm that it was the same seal, and luckily not a second entanglement we were dealing with.

“Sadly the pup did not reappear, though medics searched into the fading light. Local public then spotted another seal and were concerned it was the entangled pup.

“They found the BDMLR volunteers and alerted them and a rescue approach was planned out.

“They discovered the seal had no entanglement and was a smaller, younger pup with an eye infection which was rescued for rehabilitation.

"If anyone does happen to spot this particular seal or any other they are worried about, please call us as soon as they can.

"Keep away and keep children and dogs away - it's so important to stay well away from them and never try to put them in the water.

"From what we've seen so far, it sounds like it has raspy breathing which makes us worried it may have an underlying infection going on.

"It's important for us to find it and to address any issues. We are worried that if the pup isn't found soon, it will continue to grow and the netting will cut into the neck further and further."

Chris Cook, Yorkshire & Lincolnshire Area Coordinator, said: "If anyone sees this seal we would appreciate the call so we can intervene.

“Huge thank you to the public for staying a good distance away from the young non-entangled seal too!"

Ms Mayman said the team is seeing more seals getting tangled in netting. She explained: "We are getting more and more.

“There used to be the off one or two seen throughout the year, but nationally we are getting more reports of them getting entangled.

"We now see around 10 to 12 a year on the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coast and it's increasing every year."