A beach goer has expressed her outrage after children threw stones at a seal before a woman grabbed the animal by its tail.
Donna had just been for a swim in Hornsea on April 18 and noticed the seal in the water. It then went up on to the beach for a rest but she could not believe it when a group of youngsters began harassing it.
She said: “I was absolutely shocked to see that as it came to shore some children around 12 years old started throwing stones at it.
"They were told off but then a woman came marching up and grabbed the seal by its tail with the aim of flinging it back in the sea", The Mirror reports.
She added: “The seal went for this lady. All it wanted to do was rest but everyone wanted a close up picture and were surrounding it and it wasn't able to rest and it was getting very distressed.
“British Divers Marine Life Rescue were called so they could take it away to allow it to rest properly and when it was ready it would re-enter the sea. What is wrong with people? If you see a seal leave it alone, don't touch it, don't let your dogs go near and most definitely do not throw stones at it. It should have been able to rest there on its own accord but unfortunately it was at risk of idiots.”
There have been concerns raised regularly about the welfare of seals with the Yorkshire Seal Group often raising the issue on its media channels. But coastguard teams have also urged people not to distress seals resting on the East Yorkshire coastline. Hull Coastguard Team has posted a warning on Facebook.
It says there has been an increase in the number of seals on beaches along the east coast which has led to a huge volume of calls to HM Coastguard. People have been mistakenly thinking the animals might be injured or they've 'stranded' when in fact they are simply resting.
Steve Cox, from HM Coastguard, said: ‘If someone sees an injured seal they can call us and we will call BDMLR (British Divers Marine Life Rescue), although of course, people can call BDMLR directly if they think an animal is hurt. However, we’ve been receiving a huge volume of calls over the past few days about seals on beaches which have turned out not to be injured.
"Seals often haul out onto land to rest and recharge and aren't necessarily there because they are hurt and if you approach them they can respond aggressively.
“Please think before calling 999 and asking for the Coastguard about a seal that just happens to be on a beach, unless you really think it’s hurt as it could take up time that we need to deal with real emergencies.”
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