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Diver Rages Against 'Discarded' Items at Sea as Attempt to Free Seal From Rubber Ring Fails

A seal-loving diver was unsuccessful in his attempt to remove a rubber ring from a seal’s neck off the English coast, he told Storyful.

Ben Burville, who frequently visits and records seals in the North Sea, recorded this footage on September 16 and September 18, showing one seal with a rubber ring around its neck, another tangled in some fishing gear, and a third with some rope around it.

Burville told Storyful that he saw the seal with the rubber ring on its neck on September 16. He relocated it two days later, he said, and was able to build up the trust of the animal to get close enough to try to remove the ring. “I positioned myself so I could get both hands on the ring and pull, but sadly it was firmly stuck,” Burville said. Fortunately, he said, “the fur underlying was intact and the skin not broken.”

“Discarded or lost fishing equipment, ropes, nets and pots together with waste dumped in the sea can cause serious injury and even death to a variety of marine life,” Burville wrote on YouTube. Credit: Ben Burville via Storyful