Published on Feb. 12, 2026, 5:01 PM
The net was 30.7 metres long and weighed 23.5 kilograms.
The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) hotline from Gyllyngvase Beach in Cornwall, England received a a distress call from members of the public on February 5 who spotted a pile of red netting on the shore that appeared to be moving. Upon closer inspection, they discovered a juvenile female grey seal that had become tangled in the mass.
“With the tide washing in around it, members of the public had managed to recover the animal with the net, thought to be mid-water trawl gear, across the rocks onto the main beach,” BDMLR says in a statement.
(Dan Jarvis/BDMLR)
A team of volunteer responders, including one who happened to be seconds away from the scene, rushed to help, moving the seal and netting further up the beach to avoid the tide so they could gently cut it free.
“With so much net wrapped tightly around its body, this took some time,” BDMLR says.
“Eventually, once it was free, the juvenile animal was given a thorough health assessment that determined it had fortunately received no serious injuries and was otherwise in good health. It was given a temporary mark for future identification before being released back onto the beach and headed into the sea.”