Seal pup rescued in Norfolk after being spotted wandering past amusement arcade and kebab shop
21 January 2023, 15:19
A young seal has been rescued after being found making its way past an amusement arcade and kebab shop in Norfolk on Friday night.
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Marine and Wildlife Rescue staff went to the scene in Hemsby, hundreds of metres inline at 11pm after being sent pictures of the grey seal pup outside Istanbul Delight kebab shop.
Dan Goldsmith, chairman of the Great Yarmouth-based rescue centre, said: "We spoke to a couple of people that were milling around there and thought it was a wind-up, they were like: 'No, you won't find a seal around here mate',"
"After searching the area for some time, we eventually found the seal shuffling along on a path outside an amusement arcade called the Mirage.
"The pup must have just been looking for some shelter, but got disorientated and kept heading inland."
Mr Goldsmith, 38, said the seal he and a colleague carried the healthy seal back to the sea on a stretcher.
He added that seal sightings inland are becoming more common as a result of surging populations in the UK in recent years.
"This was more the unusual end of what we do, but this is becoming more of a common occurrence... we responded to one the day before funnily enough, it was out on a road quite a few miles inland," Mr Goldsmith said.
"I remember 20 years ago we didn't get hardly any calls about seals, maybe two a week... I get probably at peak times 15-20 calls for different seals a day at the minute."
Grey seal numbers are on the rise in the UK, with as many as 120,000 in the country, up from about 500 in the early 20th century.
Mr Goldsmith warned people who saw seal pups inland to call for expert help rather than approach them.
"We do get people that mean really well, that want to help and they've done things in the past but have been injured," he said.
"Call a rescue organisation like us to assess because we're used to working with them.
"They're very quick and responsive... and they can look very docile and friendly, but they're not, they are really quite hostile things."
