Norfolk rescued orphaned seal found relaxing on French beach

An orphaned male seal pup that was rescued and nursed back to health in the UK has been spotted hundreds of miles away on a French beach.

The mammal, named Salsa, was released into The Wash in October, after spending four months at the RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre, Norfolk.

Photographer, Jean-Luc Bourgain, saw him in Boulogne-Sur-Mer harbour.

He said he contacted the charity to let it know Salsa was doing well after researching his tag number.

In June, Salsa was found on Heacham South beach, weighing just 12kg (26lbs).

He was looked after for four months, to make sure he was "strong and fit enough to return to the wild", the RSPCA said.

He was released into The Wash in October, with an increased weight to 39.5kg (87lbs).

Evangelos Achilleos, from the RSPCA centre, said: "We were so delighted to hear that Salsa has been spotted looking so well - and that he was all the way over in France enjoying his new-found freedom."

He described the pup as "very cheeky" as he would "always remove the plug in his pool and drain the water out several times a day".

"We even tried putting weights on the plug but Salsa would usually outsmart us, until he was moved into the outdoor pools - which fortunately don't have plugs!"

The distance to swim from The Wash to the harbour at Boulogne-sur-Mer is about 250 miles (402km).

Mr Bourgain, a member of the National Stranding Network which monitors marine animal sightings, said: "I got in touch in the hope of finding out a little bit more about the seal.

"It's been great to let his previous carers know that he is doing so well," he added.

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