Seal pup found 15 miles away from North Sea home Published duration 2 January

image copyright RSPCA image caption The grey seal pup is thought to have swum upstream in search of food

A three-week-old seal pup is recovering after being found about 15 miles away from the sea on Boxing Day.

The RSPCA said the underweight pup was found by a family out walking their dogs on the banks of the River Bain in Lincolnshire.

It is thought to have swum upstream in search of food from its home in the North Sea.

RSPCA inspector Kate Burris said: "The people who spotted him couldn't believe what they were seeing."

"The poor pup was trying to get into a small dyke when they noticed him. We think he had come down the weir and climbed up the bank.

"He's a male grey seal and aged around three weeks old."

She said the pup - named Zodiac - had now been transferred to the East Winch Wildlife Centre in Norfolk.

'Very feisty'

"He came in very underweight at just 14kg, which is a long way short of the 40kg he needs to be for him to be returned to the wild," she said.

However, the seal pup is now enjoying a diet of fish soup and whole fish.

"We are hopeful he's going to be okay," Ms Burris added.

"The staff who are caring for him though say he's doing really well.

"He's very feisty - which is a good thing - and has been on fish soup until a couple of days ago when he started on whole fish."

Grey seals are normally found in the waters of the Wash, an estuary between Lincolnshire and Norfolk.