Friday 23 January 2015

Common Seal at Deeping St.James, Lincolnshire










This Common Seal has been on a tributary of the River Welland in the village of Deeping St.James in south Lincolnshire for the past week or so. The area in question is part of the old canal that bought trade to the Deepings area in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the seal frequenting the 'Low locks' area. The canal leads to the River Welland, which in turn flows out into the Wash, which is obviously how this mammal has ended up 30 miles form the sea. The RSPCA is aware of the animals presence and says that as long as it remains healthy, it should find its' own way back in due course.

As I say, the seal has been present for about a week and the other day I decided to go and pay homage to something that I hadn't seen locally before. The animal was first spotted when I noticed a rather large bow wave coming towards me, reminiscent of 'Nessie', where it continued to swim nonchalantly past me and continue up stream. It is remarkably 'tame' and showed down to less than 3 metres, coming right up towards the camera and at one point too close to focus on! It is earning celebrity status, having appeared in local and national newspapers and also on the T.V. Time will tell if it manages to return to the sea, but at the moment it looks pretty comfortable in its' adopted home.

10 comments:

  1. He looks quite content, if not very bright. I hope he has the wit to find the way home.

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    1. He is pretty content, he seems to be finding plenty to eat. Maybe when he runs out of food he will find his way back!
      J

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  2. Candidate for actually being Nessie - Loch Ness is connected to the sea.

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    1. I am more inclined to believe that it is a seal as opposed to a dinosaur!
      J

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  3. Oh my goodness that precious face, those amazing eyes, just beautiful and then I also saw your Barn Owl in previous post...wonderful stuff!

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    1. Thanks Mary! I got lucky with the Barn Owl.
      J

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  4. Last seen on Saturday - not heard of any sightings since...

    http://marketdeeping.com/success-in-seal-spotting-trip/

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  5. Yes, one of my friends went looking on Sunday, but to no avail. Hopefully the seal has found his way back to the coast!
    J

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  6. We heard about this little guy, but saw no sign last Tuesday.

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    1. I think the last time that the seal was seen was the Saturday before last. Hopefully, he has made his way back to the sea.
      J

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