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Volunteers walked for almost three hours in heavy sleet and rain to find and rescue a seal pup weighed down by a lobster pot entangled around her neck.

The pup was found on Ross Sands near Budle Bay in Northumberland, burdened and exhausted by the broken pot and at the mercy of the incoming tide.

The netting had opened up a deep wound on the seal’s neck as it had dragged the pot around, probably for days.

Rescuers Annie Ivison and Steve Dixon, who volunteer with the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), carried the 19kg animal for three miles back to Steve’s vehicle and on to a veterinary clinic in Alnwick.

Annie, who is manager at Natural England’s Lindisfarne national nature reserve, was alerted by a call on Tuesday morning to her office by a member of the public who had come across the distressed seal.

Annie, who is trained marine mammal medic, called BDMLR to ask for help and volunteer Steve Dixon, a diving instructor based at Seahouses, responded equipped with a seal-carrying bag and dive knife.

(Image: Keith Tilmouth)

Annie said: “It was raining and sleeting heavily when arrived on the deserted beach, and I was relieved to see Steve arrive over the dunes.

“We walked for almost three miles but we couldn’t see much and almost turned back. We decided to go just a little further and spotted what appeared to be marine litter on the shore, then we noticed tiny track marks.

“The pup lay still and we thought we were too late but as we moved closer she lifted her head. She was badly entangled in a broken lobster pot, and the poor thing was utterly exhausted.”

Steve held her pup’s head while Annie cut the net from around her neck as they were caught by waves from the incoming tide.

“She had a deep wound where the rope had cut into her. We carried a handle each of the seal bag as we hauled the 19kg of pup back across three miles of sand, dunes and farmland and Steve drove her to the vets,” said Annie.

(Image: Handout)

Steve said: “It was like carrying a sack of potatoes but unlike a sack the seal kept wiggling. We kept changing hands and by the time we reached the vehicle I felt like I had done a few hours in the gym.

“The seal was exhausted and would not have survived another tide. While diving in the summer we found a couple of dead seals on the sea bed, caught in ropes snapped from lobster pots.”

The pup was treated by Stuart Morris, of Alnwick vets Morris and Plumley.

He said: “She was exhausted and the wound looked nasty but it had not reached the deeper tissue. We tube-fed her an energy drink and gave her antibiotics and pain relief.”

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The seal revived and it was judged to be in sufficiently good condition otherwise to allow her to be released on Tuesday evening at Bamburgh by Steve and fellow BDMR volunteer Jane Lancaster, a National Trust coastal ranger.

Steve said: “As she went towards the sea she gave a quick look back, which was nice, and then she was off.”

Jane, who christened the seal Netty, said: ”She would not have been able to feed properly with that lobster pot netting around her neck, so in the end she is the luckiest seal I have come across.”

Annie said: “This story not only highlights the need to reduce marine pollution and to be proactive in the battle against it but also that when organisations work together for a common goal, great things can happen.

“During our regular beach cleans, ‘ghost’ fishing gear is commonly among the offending items.

“If people can commit to even doing a two minute beach clean when they visit they beach it can make all the difference.”