Staff at a wildlife sanctuary are mourning the passing of a seal who had lived there for more than 50 years.
The seal – known affectionately as Queen Sheba – had been a resident of the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Gweek since 1975, when the sanctuary was built.
She was a pup when she was rescued in 1974 by founder Ken Jones and his wife Mary, who cared for Sheba and other seals at their home in St Agnes before the sanctuary was built.
Paying tribute to the seal after her death, sanctuary staff said she had “won the hearts of staff, guests, and fellow seals alike”.