Rescuers free seal tangled in rope on Scottish beach

A seal found struggling to breathe on a Scottish beach has been freed from a rope tangled round its neck.

Noel Hawkins from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue organisation spotted the distressed mammal near Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands.

Rescuers managed to cut the rope wrapped around the seal's neck, allowing it to swim back to sea.

Mr Hawkins told the BBC he felt "relief and happiness" knowing the seal had been freed, adding that it would likely not have survived another big tide.

21 December 2021