I’m obsessed with protecting seals: ‘The flying ring toy was deeply embedded in her neck’

There was an incidental 7 years agone that changed my life. I saw an big grey seal with a integrative pinkish flying ringing artifact truthful profoundly embedded successful her cervix that she was practically dead. It was stopping her from feeding due to the fact that it was digging into her and she couldn’t widen her cervix – the wounds were horrific.

It broke my heart. From that infinitesimal on, I became obsessed with seals and protecting them from the dangers of integrative flying rings.

I archetypal encountered seals – and began to emotion them – erstwhile I became a unpaid for RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre 15 years ago. The centre is the main installation successful Norfolk for the treatment, rehabilitation and attraction of chaotic seals, and works with the foundation Friends of Horsey Seals (FoHS) and its dedicated rescue squad on the eastbound coast. As a result, I person unusually adjacent interaction with Britain’s 2 protected taxon of seals: the grey seal and the harbour seal, feeding and helping to attraction for them and their pups.

We called that seal Pinkafo. I discovered she wasn’t the archetypal seal that FoHS had rescued who had a flying ringing astir her cervix – another, called Frisbee, had been saved the twelvemonth before. That had been thought to beryllium a freak occurrence, but erstwhile Pinkafo came in, we realised it wasn’t.

Since then, unfortunately, a batch of seals person been seen and photographed caught successful flying rings on Britain’s coastline. What seems to beryllium happening is that these rings – costing arsenic small arsenic £1 – get mislaid oregon discarded connected the formation past taken by the upwind oregon tide into the sea. Young seals find them successful the h2o and, being people curious, commencement to play – and that’s erstwhile they enactment their caput done the middle. They can’t get the ringing disconnected and, arsenic the seal gets bigger, the integrative digs deeper and deeper into its neck. Eventually, it dies from corruption and starvation.

Pinkafo, pictured with the ringing stuck astir her neck, was fortunate capable to survive. Photograph: Mathew Perring

Every clip a seal was spotted stuck successful a flying ring, I woke up astatine nighttime feeling distressed. In 2019, with the enactment of FoHS, I launched a nationalist consciousness run astir the dangers of flying rings to seals. We distributed leaflets and posters on the Norfolk seashore from Great Yarmouth to King’s Lynn. I besides started touring the beaches with a lifesize sculpture of a grey seal with a ringing embedded successful her neck.

In 2022, I sailed astir Britain connected my yacht for six months promoting my run astatine galore of the ports and harbours I visited, and wrote a book, Sailing for Seals, astir my journey. In 2023, I received a Points of Light award from the premier curate successful designation of my run to forestall needless suffering to seals.

The UK Seal Alliance, which represents seal groups crossed the country, is present supporting my run and its vice-chair Gareth Richards recently launched a petition calling for a prohibition connected the import and merchantability of flying rings to support seals. We person besides been going into the shops that merchantability the rings and asking them to stop, and immoderate of the large chains specified arsenic Sainsbury’s, Halfords, Tesco and the Entertainer person present pledged to swap to coagulated discs. But galore retailers person refused to prosecute and thousands of rings proceed to beryllium sold crossed the country.

The bully quality is, Pinkafo and Frisbee managed to past and, we think, springiness commencement aft the rings were removed and they were released backmost into the sea. But each clip a seal is rescued and rehabilitated successful this way, it costs charities specified arsenic the RSPCA an estimated £10,000 to £15,000.

We are launching a nationalist run to rise consciousness of the dangers of flying rings connected 26 May, truthful that everyone tin larn however to support seals by swapping flying rings for seal-safe coagulated flying discs this summer, preferably non-plastic ones. Everyone tin assistance our seals by making specified a elemental switch.

• Jennifer Hobson is simply a seal payment campaigner and the writer of Sailing for Seals. As told to Donna Ferguson