Commuter is an adult male seal who has been wanted for more than six years in Cornwall, UK, because he has a blue plastic seal from a paint can around his neck. Animal welfare organizations have finally managed to remove that disturbing ring.
Andy Rogers of the Seal Research Trust (SRT) – a seal welfare organization – spotted the gray seal Commuter on Sunday on the north coast of Cornwall, in the very south-west corner of Britain. Members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue arrived on the scene to finally free Commuter – after more than six years – from his blue ring around the neck.
SRT volunteers had been looking for Commuter, who takes his name from his journeys up and down the north coast of Cornwall, since September 2017. Until now, the seal could never be saved for safety reasons. Catching a 200 kg colossus is not easy, especially when it starts to defend itself because it feels threatened.
On Sunday the first rescue opportunity in six years presented itself. About a third of the seals on the beach fled into the sea out of suspicion, but fortunately Commuter continued to sleep peacefully. The conditions were ideal, it sounds afterwards, also because it was low tide. Commuter could be tied in a large net and placed on a kind of stretcher. This allowed the seal to be freed from the discarded sealing ring for a can of paint around its neck. The injuries sustained turned out to be minor.
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