COUNCIL RINGING CHANGES TO SAVE SEALS

Now campaigners want others to ban deadly plastic toys

- SHAURYA SHAURYA

SEALS are a common sight across Welsh shorelines, especially in the breeding seasons of August and November.

But a small plastic toy is threatening the lives of these marine animals, particularly their young.

Plastic, doughnut-shaped flying rings a type of frisbee threaten the creatures so much that Swansea council has now backed a voluntary ban on the toy, and campaigners are urging other councils to follow suit.

Gareth Richards, 68, founder of Gower Seal Group and vice-chairman of the UK Seal Alliance Executive, said that once the ring gets stuck around the animal's neck it is very hard to rescue the seals, and more often than not they end up dead.

"Locally, we have the North Atlantic grey seal, which is globally rare," Gareth explained.

"We have around about a third of the entire global population of grey seal that lives around the UK coastline and we've got a small percentage of that that visit us on Gower and Swansea."

Gareth said that because the seals already face threat from climate change and other disturbances, it is crucial that "we look after them".

He added: "The flying rings are imported into the UK in their thousands. They're sold very, very, cheaply in many outlets, not only in Swansea, but across the UK."

The retired policeman explained: "They often get lost or discarded on beaches or near waterways and end up in the sea. Now to a curious seal, especially the younger seals, when they find these flying rings floating in the sea, it's like a toy or like a plaything.

"In their natural curiosity they will start to put their heads through it and sort of bite it, etc. What actually happens is that these rings go over their necks and get stuck fast.