A seal pup has been found waiting at a bus stop, after swimming out of the sea and crossing a main road.
The young pup, thought to be only a few weeks old, was discovered by a group of schoolchildren waiting for the bus in Porthleven at around 8am this morning.
Dropping off her daughter to join them was Lisa Cadman, who could not believe what she was seeing.
She immediately rang her husband, Simon, an officer with the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority, as she thought he might know what to do.
It is not clear exactly why the seal ended up at the bus stop, with Simon joking: "It was trying to catch a bus to Godrevy I think!"
The seal was sitting calmly at the bus stop Picture: Lisa Cadman
What is the most likely scenario, however, is that the pup was one of a couple spotted in the inner harbour last night, during bad weather.
One sadly died, and it is thought this one must have climbed out of the water to take refuge from the waves and somehow crossed the road to shelter behind the wall by the bus stop near the shipyard.
READ NEXT:
Simon used his contacts to call the British Divers Marine Life Rescue and one of its members, Dan, who lives nearby in Ashton, promised to come down straight away.
The Cornish Seal Sanctuary at Gweek also contacted.
In the meantime Simon went down to there with a dumpy bag, in the hope that he could contain it.
"I thought I might be able to persuade it to jump bag in the water," he said.
With the help of a man from one of the industrial units at the shipyard, they managed to gently get it into the bag, where Simon said: "It seemed quite happy and just sat there."
Simon Cadman and a man from the shipyard try to gently get the seal into the bag Picture: Lisa Cadman
In a very short space of time both Dan and a staff member from the seal sanctuary had arrived and took over.
The seal was checked over and given a clean bill of health, before being put into the back of the sanctuary's truck and taken away.
"It was uninjured, had the right temperature and was not underweight," said Simon.
He was later told that the seal had been released into the calmer waters of Mounts Bay.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel