Crew of the Baltic fleet hydrographic boat along with policemen saved a small seal.

Russian Navy official representative Igor Dygalo said that Grigory Vasilenko, boatswain of the BGK-2149 had found a weak Red book Baltic seal during the deck inspection. The poor animal was lying on the ice-block that drifted to the board.

The crew contacted the 85th police station of the nearest town of Lomonosov as well as The Saint-Petersburg Centre for Research of Sea Mammals.

The police arrived at the accident scene. One of the policemen, lieutenant Alexander Novikov, went down the ice-block and lifted the cub aboard the boat. Afterwards, the seal was transferred to the Centre.

The saved seal is of the horsehead, or gray seals type. The Baltic Sea is inhabited by a subspecies comprising 7-8 thousand seals. There is low level of threat to the gray seal around the world; however, in Russia and in the US states of Maine and Massachusetts it is a protected species.