SWNS
An injured seal was left whimpering after it became stranded on the cobblestones of a harbour for more than 24 hours. Heartbreaking video shows fisherman Kit Gallagher approaching the poor creature 'crying for help' after the tide brought it to shore. Kit, 50, found the young seal when he was checking on his boat in the harbour at Bridlington, Yorks., and notified a nearby Sea Life Centre upon discovery. He returned to the scene the next day to find the vulnerable animal still hadn't moved from the cobblestones and was still in distress. Kit said: "I came to the harbour to check on my boat and was told by a friend that a seal was on the south slope and it didn't look very well and that he thought it had a poor flipper. "I phoned Scarborough Sea Life and told them where it was. "I came back at 8am the next morning and found it still there and made an update video as I had thousands of people asking for an update. "I was told a call had already been made to the Sea Life Centre, so I went home and came to check a few hours later. "When I came back the seal was gone and I was told that the seal rescue had been with it all afternoon. "I was told by someone on the harbour that they had taken it, I think the seal arrived that morning as the tide was coming up." British Divers Marine Life Rescue were called out to the scene but the seal had gone by the time they arrived. A spokesperson for the charity said: "We didn't pick up this seal in but we did pick up another one that we kept overnight and then released the next day." It is a busy time of year for seals up and down the east coast as they regularly rest on beaches and in harbours. The charity added: "If you find a seal on a beach, watch it from a distance. Do not approach the animal. "Seals regularly haul out on our coasts - it is part of their normal behaviour and, in fact, they spend more time out of the water, digesting their food and resting than in it. "Therefore, finding a seal on the beach does not mean there is necessarily a problem and do not chase it into the sea as this may stop it from doing what it needs to do - rest. "A healthy seal should be left alone." They concluded that this seal would have returned to the water itself. The footage was filmed on March 17.
