Great Yarmouth seal pup found heading towards traffic

An injured seal pup that was heading towards seafront traffic has been rescued and placed back in its habitat.

The four to five-week-old grey seal pup was found on a path close to the pier off North Drive in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on Wednesday night.

Dan Goldsmith of Marine and Wildlife Rescue said it had probably been spooked after a dog attack.

"We relocated it much further along [the beach] to rest and recover, and it should be OK," he said.

In a post on Facebook, the charity said there was no space at the nearest wildlife hospital and a good chance the pup could "carry on" and be on its way soon.

A member of public had called the charity after spotting the seal near the bowling green beside the pier, and just across the road from the bright lights of a cinema.

Mr Goldsmith said they had done a good job of keeping it away from the road, by shooing it with a washing-up bowl.

"It had been much closer to the road than it is in the photo," said Mr Goldsmith.

"We think there was an incident with a dog on the beach, which spooked the seal up the walkway.

"We gave it a quick look over and we could see fresh puncture wounds on its abdomen. It was weaned and it was a bit on the light side, but it seemed ok."

He added Marine and Wildlife Rescue, whose volunteers hoped to check in at the seal's location, had experienced an "unprecedented" number of call-outs this pupping season.

"More and more seals are coming to Great Yarmouth - there's a habitat near the harbour where they are undisturbed, although the pupping happens between Waxham and Winterton-on-Sea.

"There are more seals being born each year, but also because of the storms and tides there has been a lot of displacement of them.

"We had nowhere near as many call-outs this time last year, and the season's far from over."

Last week, a seal pup was rescued after it became trapped in a hole at Waxham.

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