A baby seal was rescued after he found himself trapped among rocks on New Year’s Day.
The poor pup was discovered with his head poking out of a hole at St Mary’s Island around midday in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside on January 1.
A member of the public is said to have told staff at the lighthouse about the young animal’s plight, and they then informed St Mary’s Seal Watch.
The group of volunteers, who are dedicated to the conservation and protection of wildlife, wrapped the seal’s face and jaw to reduce stress to the animal and stop it from biting them.
They then put their hands down the hole and used a patient lift method to gently manoeuvre him to safety.
Thankfully, he was not injured and was released safely back into the sea.
A spokesperson from St Mary’s Seal Watch said: ‘Normally when seals appear stuck, they will manage to get themselves out, but this poor thing was well and truly trapped.
‘It is likely that having been spooked and attempting to get across the rocks from where it was resting that young pup misjudged the hole it was trying to cross and slid backwards.
‘When found it was facing with just its head out the hole.
‘Even at this young age seals are very heavy and have extremely sharp teeth and give a nasty and dangerous bite.
‘We couldn’t just pull it out as this could result in injury to either the seal or us.’
‘Anyone who has ever seen a seal haul out will know they move by transferring their weight forward, so we needed to replicate this action.’
The spokesperson added: ‘Luckily this little one was spotted early and with volunteers on site we were able to rescue it swiftly.’
