A GROUP of seals cared for at the RSPCA West Hatch Centre are bound to be having some seal-ly good fun after being released back to the wild. 

The six seals, each found in various states, were released at Combe Martin beach in North Devon just before hide tide after spending time at the centre near Taunton where the team helped them get fit and healthy.

Each of the seals had been rescued separately from across the South West and Wales during the final months of 2016, were given around the clock care and rehabilitation.

Staff named the three males and three females after children's television characters, and their care began in intensive care pens before being moved into the large pools at the centre as they began self-feeding and gaining weight.

Kirsten Larcombe, wildlife assistant at RSPCA West Hatch, said: “The release went really well, they all pretty much went straight out. It was great to see the seals who had been so poorly when they came to us swim back out to sea and return to the wild where they belong.

“One of the reasons I enjoy working with seals so much is that whilst you put so much into their rehabilitation, taking them for release is a fantastic reward.”

Seals don’t like being transported and so it is healthier and less stressful for them to be released at the nearest suitable coastline habitat.

From there they are able to return to familiar waters on their own.

Skeletor, a young male, was rescued as an orphan in November in Newquay and at the time weighed just 12.8 kg.

After successfully gaining weight, he returned to the sea weighing 45 kg.

Trixie was thin and dehydrated with a nasal discharge and numerous small wounds when she was found in Salcombe in Devon at the beginning of December weighing just 16.1kg.

Thanks to the team she gained more than 20kg during the two months she spent at West Hatch.

Lion-O was found wheezing with laboured respiration plus some very minor wounds when he was discovered at Trebarwith in Cornwall on the shortest day of 2016.

He weighed just 18.7 kg on arrival and had managed to get to 40 kg by the time he left.

Dougal, a female orphan who was given a boy’s name before it was discovered she was a girl, was just 14kg when she was found at Sennen in Cornwall with various wounds in October but had managed to reach a weight of 43 kg by the time of her release.

Florence was admitted in November from Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire with wounds to her flipper and weighing just 12.15 kg.

After healing successfully and gaining weight, she was more than 40 kg when she swam back out to sea.

Danger Mouse was admitted from Hayle in Cornwall with various bite wounds, nasal discharge and swelling over his left eye. He had a start weight of 19.5 kg on arrival and left weighing around 53 kg.

These pups were obviously in distress when found but not all lone seal pups have been abandoned and are unwell.

If you find a seal pup that looks fit and healthy and shows no signs of distress monitor it first from a safe distance for 24 hours.

Calls about sick, underweight and injured seals can be logged with the RSPCA national cruelty and advice line on 0300 1234 999.