Incredible a Seal swims to freedom! 

Watch the incredible moment a seal swims to freedom after being saved from an illegal net choking it to death – then turns round to thank its rescuers Seal was born with an illegal monofilament net wrapped around its neck.

As seal grew from a pup the net dug into its neck, making a deep wound When it was found it appeared to be choking and struggling to breathe Animal is likely to have spent a year with the net wrapped around it Rescuers spent three days trying to reach the animal on a Shetland beach Once they cut away the net the seal made for the sea and swam away.

Experts believe the seawater will ensure the gaping wound heals properly. A seal that was left struggling to breathe after being born with illegal netting around its neck which dug in to leave a gaping wound was able to swim away unrestricted for the first time in its life after being freed by rescuers. Video footage shows the seal struggling to escape as the net bit into its skin as it lay helpless on a beach in Shetland, where it was stranded for three days as rescuers battled bad weather to reach it.

The animal appeared to be choking to death but the moment it was cut free it made its way for the open sea, stealing a look back at its rescuers as if in a nod to say thank you. The monofilament wires of the net – illegal in the UK for almost 30 years – may have been wrapped around the seal’s neck for up to a year. The animal is likely to have been in agony as it grew from a pup and the net cut deeper into its neck as it got larger. Experts believe the wound will eventually be healed by the sterilising effect of seawater and that the seal will make a full recovery.

The animal was first spotted on a beach on Saturday in Fethaland on the northern tip of the mainland. The weather was so bad that rescuers could not get to the area for three days. Jan Bebington, who runs the Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary along with husband Pete, said: ‘We managed to get down on Tuesday but we almost gave up when we couldn’t find the seal. Thankfully, as we were leaving the beach someone spotted it and we were able to help.

‘The net was cutting really deeply into its throat and it could hardly breathe. We covered its head so it wouldn’t be startled or bite, and after about five minutes managed to cut all the monofilament off. ‘The seal just lay there very still the whole time – I think it could tell we were trying to help it.

‘However, as soon as the net was off it rocketed into the sea. It was lovely to see and it even turned around one last time before disappearing.’ Mrs Bebington said the seal was in such pain it would have been unable to dive for food and would have had intense difficulty eating and breathing.

She said: ‘If we hadn’t found it, it would have died a slow and very horrible death. It was already very thin and emaciated so it wouldn’t have eaten for a long time.

Mrs Bebington said that finding seals in this condition was a ‘regular occurrence’ and made a plea to fishermen not to abandon their nets.