A SEAL has died after its mouth became tangled up with discarded angling litter.

Concerned members of the public contacted the RSPCA after spotting the seal in distress in Ravenscar.

RSPCA Inspector Lucy Green and animal collection officer (ACO) Martin Whiteley arrived at the beach to find the stricken seal last Saturday.

Lucy said: “When we arrived to find the seal, we were met with a very sorry sight. The poor animal was clearly in a lot of pain and really suffering, and so we secured him into a specially designed seal bag and carried him back up the beach and cliffs to take him to a vet as soon as we could.

“We could clearly see the fishing line was wrapped so tightly around his mouth that it was cutting into the skin, and had clearly been like that for several days - he must have been in so much pain, it was incredibly upsetting to see.”

Despite the best efforts, the vet was unable to save the seal due to the extent of the injuries caused by the wire which had made it too difficult for the seal to breathe. He had also developed a severe infection in his nostrils and ear canal.

Martin said: “To think that this beautiful wild animal lost his life due to somebody failing to clear up after themselves is devastating. This awful situation could have been so easily prevented if whoever was using the fishing wire had just bothered to collect it up and dispose of it responsibly.”

Just last month, the RSPCA revealed that the number of reports of wildlife injured by angling litter such as fishing line, weights and hooks, rose by 48% between May and June this year.

The charity suspects that the easing of lockdown put in place by the pandemic, along with a spell of good weather, has seen a rise in people taking up outdoor activities such as fishing, causing an excess of discarded angling litter.

The RSPCA received 393 calls about fishing litter across England & Wales since the beginning of the year, with 97% of those calls made between May, June and July.

Adam Grogan, Head of Wildlife at the RSPCA, said: “This jump in the number of calls about animals injured by fishing litter since lockdown eased is a real cause for concern.

"We’re seeing a number of cases where wild animals like gulls, owls and swans are getting their wings and legs tangled up in fishing line, sharp hooks caught in their beaks, and suffering all sorts of awful injuries, sometimes with tragic consequences.

“Our inspectors and officers are working hard to rescue as many of these stricken animals as they can (video here) and where needed transport them to a vet or to our specialist wildlife centres.

"Thankfully, many can be saved but they may require a lot of care, treatment and rehabilitation. Others aren’t so lucky and sometimes their injuries are just too severe for them to survive.

“It’s tragic for animal lovers like us to see the effects of discarded litter like this, especially when there is such a simple solution: clear up your litter and take it home with you.”