Rescuers find 'seal in distress' is just a rock

Rescuers called out to help a seal crying in distress off the North East Lincolnshire coast found the struggling animal was actually just a large rock.

A member of the public contacted Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue on Sunday with concerns over the seal's safety.

A vet and two volunteers scanned the beach with no joy – and when they asked the caller for an exact location, they realised it was a large seal-shaped rock.

Aaron Goss, lead rescuer at the charity, said: "We are frequently telling people not to approach seals and to not disturb them. The rock did look like a seal, so the member of the public [has] done the right thing."

He added: "They have stayed back and contacted [us] to give us the heads up, so they have done nothing wrong at all and, of course, it is quite humorous that it was just a rock.

"I don't know where she heard the crying from, but that's not a problem – maybe it was a passing gull!"

Mr Goss said the call-out came from the Wonderland end of the beach.

"She was adamant it was not moving very much but she said it had been moving and she could hear it calling," he said.

"A guy had zoomed in on his phone camera and it was definitely a seal.

"We were scanning the beach for a really long time, trying to figure out where on earth is this seal.

"Eventually, we called her back and asked her for a bit more information, and managed to find – from the description that she had given with the new location –that it was definitely a rock."

It was not the first time something had been misidentified as a seal.

"A few years ago, we had a log wash up a bit further out on the beach, and people mistook that for a seal," Mr Goss said.

"And, again, it did look like a seal from quite a distance.

"It's not a problem. We can get the big binoculars out and double-check."

The rescue organisation said it was always better to be safe than sorry, and reports of concerns about animals would be followed up.

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