Rescuers are delighted a one-eyed seal nicknamed Popeye is doing well after he was spotted “nibbling” on fishing ropes.
Popeye was about 10 days old when he was rescued on Crimdon Beach, near Hartlepool, and found to be suffering from mouth rot disease and an eye infection.
He was cared for by vets at Tynemouth Seal Hospital for four months before being released back into the wild in Newbiggin, Northumberland, but it was unclear how the young seal would cope on its own.
But Debbie Harrison from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue said a sighting of a one-eyed seal in Northumberland meant Popeye was “probably living his best life”.