'Respect the seals': Yorkshire and Lincolnshire's Marine Rescue make plea to the public to stop trying to be 'social media heroes'

There’s a fresh warning for people across East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire to leave seals on the coast alone.

A number of incidents have taken place on local beaches, seeing mammals being harassed causing them major distress.

Emily Mayman, from British Divers Marine Rescue (BDMR) in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, claims social media is causing problems: "We are seeing more videos being posted of people wanting to be 'heroes' by picking up the seals and putting them back in the water. "The downside of it is animal welfare is being put on the line. People are interfering with animals just for the sake of a video to put on social media.

"Every time seals go back in the water, it restarts their sleep cycle all over again. We don't want to see these animals being constantly or repeatedly being chased back into the water or feeling like they have got to go back into the sea.

"We also don't want people getting bitten by them - the bacteria that seals carry in their mouths is not nice and warrants a course of very serious antibiotics if you do end up getting bitten."

The volunteers at BDMR are also warning people not to crowd around seals, as this can cause them to become distressed.

For more information and seal rescue updates, you can follow British Divers Marine Rescue Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BDMLRYorkLincs/