‘Touch and go’ for young seal rescued with 4kg of fishing debris around her neck
A young seal is fighting for survival after rescuers found her with a 4kg tangle of fishing net, hooks, twine and metal cutting into her neck.
The female grey seal, named Doughnut by the team caring for her, was rescued from Horsey beach in Norfolk on Sunday 20 September. She is receiving emergency treatment at the RSPCA’s East Winch Wildlife Centre, where staff found a wound three inches deep.
Friends of Horsey Seals had been watching Doughnut since early August but had been unable to get close enough to rescue her. As her condition worsened, volunteers decided they could not wait until the end of the pupping season, despite concerns about disturbing heavily pregnant seals nearby.
Evangelos Achilleos, the wildlife centre’s manager, said: “Doughnut had become severely entangled in a mass of netting, twine, fishing hooks and metal that had knotted together to become an anchor weighing her down in the water, cutting deeply into her flesh, draining her of energy, leaving her in unimaginable pain and preventing her from swimming or hunting properly.
“When this horrid mass was finally removed from her we were horrified to discover that it weighed around 4kg. Unsurprisingly, it left huge, deep lacerations around her whole neck.”
Members of the public helped volunteers carry Doughnut off the beach on a stretcher. Sally Butler, chair of Friends of Horsey Seals, said the group had feared she would not survive until the end of the pupping season.
“We’re so grateful to the members of the public who helped us carry the stretcher off the beach and to the East Winch team for their hard work in caring for her,” she said. “Unfortunately we’re aware of other entangled seals in the colony and we hope to rescue them soon.”
Doughnut, thought to be about a year old, is being closely monitored by wildlife specialists and vets. Achilleos said: “We’ll be keeping her comfortable and working to regain her strength. But the reality is that the coming days will be touch and go for Doughnut; her wound is dreadful and this won’t be a quick recovery but we will do everything to help her pull through.”
If she survives, Doughnut will need months of treatment and rehabilitation before she can be considered for release.
The East Winch centre has recorded 104 seals admitted with injuries caused by material caught around their necks since 2008. Nine died or had to be put to sleep, while 95 were rehabilitated and released. It cared for 10 seals with such injuries in 2025 and has treated four so far this year.
Anyone who spots a sick, injured or entangled seal should keep their distance and contact a local seal rescue organisation or the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.
