A hungry seal has forced the closure of a popular fishing lake after eating £3,000 worth of fish.
The mammal has enraged anglers after eating vast stocks of carp, bream, and catfish since his arrival at Rochford Reservoir, Essex
Nelson, so nicknamed for being blind in one eye, has twice evaded capture.
Efforts by the RSPCA, Essex rural police, and British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) to safely rescue him are still underway a month on from his first sighting.
The grey seal, thought to be one year old, is also believed to be snacking on the local duck population.
Though the reservoir is owned by Rochford District Council, Nick North, of Marks Hall Fisheries, has been the licence holder for more than 10 years.
Mr North closed the lake on 12 December after freezing temperatures caused the reservoir to freeze over. That same day, the seal was spotted submerged in the water, where he immediately began snacking on the prize catch.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s ruining my business,” a Mr North said. “It could probably get out if it wanted to but it won’t go. It’s got never-ending food supplies.
“It shouldn’t be here, this is fresh water, you’ve never seen a seal in a park lake or any lake really.
“It’s not made for fresh water. Even though it’s ruining my business. It’s still part of nature I suppose, just an unwanted part.”
Marine rescuer Simon Dennis told the BBC the seal needed to be caught for its own welfare.
The marine mammal medic and member of BDMLR believes the seal made its way up the River Roach on 6 December from the North Sea.
“It will have wandered up an inlet and got itself stuck in the reservoir,” he told the broadcaster.
“But now it probably has no incentive to leave as it found itself in a branch of Waitrose and it is munching its way through the fish.”
Mr Dennis and his colleagues are working alongside the council, the Environment Agency, and Essex Police’s wildlife team to rescue the seal from the reservoir.
Various methods of capturing the seal had been suggested, including tranquilisers, “which do not work well” and could result in drowning, the BDLMR said.
“We do want this animal to be relocated as much as the angling community do - it cannot exhibit normal ‘seal’ behaviour on its own (they are social, colony animals) and all agencies involved do appreciate the detrimental effect on the other species in the lake,” BDMLR said in a statement.
The seal has sustained several injuries, including a cut on its head and tail and a suspected blind eye. It is not known when or how this happened.
The rescue effort continues.
