Adorable grey seal cut free from fishing net which would have killed it

By Hamish Morrison via SWNS

A grey seal was rescued when it was cut free from a fishing net that had washed onto a beach - which would have killed it in a matter of days.

The young seal was cut free from the littered net with a set of pruning shears after the shock discovery on January 4.

Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary in Scotland was alerted to the stricken creature after a woman walking her dog on the beach at Wester Quarff spotted the seal’s head poking out of the net.

Ryan Leith, 46, a volunteer, was called from his home and rushed to the scene with wife Sara, also 46, who works as a high school technician.

Ryan, who works at the Lerwick Port Authority, wrapped the seal’s head in a towel to calm it down and cut the net which was wrapped around its neck entire body.

“I got some tools and bits and pieces together and went down," Ryan said.

“I wrapped the towel around its head and got my wife to get a pair of clippers and we cut the rest of the net from around its neck and flippers.

“Once I did that it calmed down."

He said the seal was lucky it was so tied up because that meant it couldn’t get away without being untangled.

“When you approach them they thrash about but because of the net it couldn’t thrash about so much so it was quite easy to get the towel wrapped around its head," he said.

“When I was happy it was uninjured I let it go.

“It was a young seal but it wasn’t a baby. It was quite a few stone and about a meter long."

Once freed, the seal hopped into a burn leading into the sea and swam away, apparently unharmed.

“We took the net away and dragged it up to the side of the road, so nothing else would get caught in it," Ryan said.

“If they hadn’t found that seal it would have been dead in a few days.

“You couldn’t really see it because it was so covered in net, it was just its head sticking out, it would have been fatal for sure because it couldn’t move.

“That one was quite easy because we could catch it.

“But if seals have a bit of plastic around their neck and you can’t catch them, they are in the sea before you can catch them and there is nothing you can do.

“You get nets now and again - there are voluntary groups that go around and pick up plastic and nets and things.

“Unfortunately, the last few years because of COVID there hasn’t been as much cleaning and a lot of the beaches are quite inaccessible.

“It is a big problem.”