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.
