Rare seal found in Cornwall for the first time
The ringed seal was seen in Hayle last month
A kind of seal normally seen in the Arctic and Baltic seas has been seen in Cornwall for the first time.
The Cornish Seal Sanctuary says the ringed seal was found at the Hayle Estuary on the 24th of July.
It was seen in a number of other places over the next few days, but then suffered a seizure in the water, and died.
The species is normally found around the northern coasts of Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Russia and Norway, as well as having a population in the Baltic Sea.
British sightings are rare, though one was found in Plymouth in 2016, and another one in Aberdeen in 2021.
The seal's body has been donated to the natural history collection at Grampus Campus, where it's hoped eventually the skeleton will go on display.
The group was founded as an educational facility to highlight what species are present in this region and facts about their threats and conservation efforts.