Seals are often considered cute and playful, but one must be cautioned because if a person gets too close and gets bitten by the animal they are in for a nasty blood infection that comes with the bite, according to experts.
The RSPCA has advised people to at least maintain a distance of 100m when engaging with the animal, and to back up slowly if the seal comes in close proximity. The British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity has warned people who might get bitten by a seal are at risk of developing a condition called “Seal Finger”.
Louise Round, who is an advanced marine animal medic with the charity, said: “It’s a really nasty blood infection, it’s horrible. It could basically mean you lose the finger.”
“They’re not like a dog or a puppy, you can’t just go up and stroke them and they’re going to appreciate that,” she said.
“They are wild animals not used to humans. If you get too close they are going to bite.”
Louise also explained the cause of this condition, it is a necrotic bacteria that takes residence on the seal’s teeth, and has advised to reach the hospital as soon as possible if bitten.
It is currently seal pupping season, with seals spotted along various parts of the coasts.
Ms Round said: “They’re actually doing really well. We’re massively lucky in this country in that we have 40% of the world’s population around our coastline.
“The vast majority of that is around the southwest coastline.
“Globally they are a rare species so just because they’re doing quite well around here, globally they aren’t doing great.
“So we really need to appreciate these animals and understand how lucky we are to get these glimpses of them and have them on our coastline.”
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