An injured seal was left whimpering after it became stranded on the cobblestones of a harbour for more than 24 hours.<br /><br />Heartbreaking video shows fisherman Kit Gallagher approaching the poor creature 'crying for help' after the tide brought it to shore.<br /><br />Kit, 50, found the young seal when he was checking on his boat in the harbour at Bridlington, Yorks., and notified a nearby Sea Life Centre upon discovery.<br /><br />He returned to the scene the next day to find the vulnerable animal still hadn't moved from the cobblestones and was still in distress.<br /><br />Kit said: "I came to the harbour to check on my boat and was told by a friend that a seal was on the south slope and it didn't look very well and that he thought it had a poor flipper. <br /><br />"I phoned Scarborough Sea Life and told them where it was.<br /><br />"I came back at 8am the next morning and found it still there and made an update video as I had thousands of people asking for an update.<br /><br />"I was told a call had already been made to the Sea Life Centre, so I went home and came to check a few hours later. <br /><br />"When I came back the seal was gone and I was told that the seal rescue had been with it all afternoon. <br /><br />"I was told by someone on the harbour that they had taken it, I think the seal arrived that morning as the tide was coming up."<br /><br />British Divers Marine Life Rescue were called out to the scene but the seal had gone by the time they arrived.<br /><br />A spokesperson for the charity said: "We didn't pick up this seal in but we did pick up another one that we kept overnight and then released the next day."<br /><br />It is a busy time of year for seals up and down the east coast as they regularly rest on beaches and in harbours.<br /><br />The charity added: "If you find a seal on a beach, watch it from a distance. Do not approach the animal. <br /><br />"Seals regularly haul out on our coasts - it is part of their normal behaviour and, in fact, they spend more time out of the water, digesting their food and resting than in it. <br /><br />"Therefore, finding a seal on the beach does not mean there is necessarily a problem and do not chase it into the sea as this may stop it from doing what it needs to do - rest. <br /><br />"A healthy seal should be left alone."<br /><br />They concluded that this seal would have returned to the water itself.<br /><br />The footage was filmed on March 17.
