Hundreds of seals are being condemned to agonising deaths due to man-made waste in the oceans.
Scientists probing the impact of marine pollution on Cape fur seals in Namibia, Africa, have documented 600 entangled animals from two colonies this year.
British expat Tess Gridley, co-director of the Namibia Dolphin Project, said some seals had been entangled in nets since youth, with the fibres cutting ever deeper into their bodies as they grow.
Hundreds of seals are being condemned to agonising deaths due to man-made waste in the oceans
Scientists probing the impact of marine pollution on Cape fur seals in Namibia, Africa, have documented 366 entangled animals
British expat Tess Gridley, co-director of the Namibia Dolphin Project, said some seals had been entangled in nets since youth
One seal's lifeless remains are seen with the head separated from the body, with a tangled net marking where the neck used to be
She said: 'The most common injury is fishing line or fishing nets around the neck – which account for 53 per cent of entangled animals we recorded.
'But we have also seen fishing hooks through the eye, around the jaw and even animals entangled to each other, which is incredibly sad.
'Seals are naturally inquisitive and when these items are floating around they look interesting – they might look like seaweed for example – and the seals play with them.
'Because of their thick fur, however, once they get entangled it is really hard for them to be freed.'
She continued: 'What we are seeing is that it's often the young animals which get entangled.
A seal is seen with a plastic bag in its mouth on a beach on the Erongo Region of Namibia
The fibres from the fishing nets cuts ever deeper into the seals' bodies as they grow, causing painful wounds
Images from the study show seals with deep wounds, all maimed by abandoned fishing tackle
'And then as they grow, the fishing line, net or other plastic material gets tighter and tighter, cutting through the skin and blubber and eventually to muscle.
'This can get infected and the extra
