Falmouth seal makes a bouy its bed for the night

Photo: Matt Dale

8:10am Wednesday 7th October 2009

Like the rest of us, seals need to sleep, most choose to do so by hauling themselves out onto a beach or rocks. However, there is one common seal that lives in the Carrick Roads near Falmouth on the Cornish coast that has opted for a more cushy - if not a little tricky - bed.

Common seals, ironically, are very rare in Cornwall and this one is probably unique. This particular seal has chosen to spend its nights on the top of a big plastic mooring buoy at Restronguet at the northern end of the Fal Estuary. Not only have locals and boat owners have got used to seeing this character balanced on a pink sphere but they also get to enjoy its antics before it settles for the night.

One resident whose house overlooks the spot said, "It comes up the river at dusk and performs leaps around the buoy, jumping a good three feet or more out of the water. It then pops up onto the buoy, spins it round a bit before shooting off again for some more play. Eventually it shoots back up onto the buoy where it spends the night, it's there most mornings when we have our breakfast."

Laura Ward from the National Seal Sanctuary said, " Seals do the funniest things, they are very playful and very curious about what is around them. We have found pups in seaside public toilets and even one in the lighthouse at Port Isaac where they film "Doc Martin", we have to shoo them back to the sea. That said, we have never before heard of one that chooses to sleep on a mooring buoy."

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/fpfalmouth/4667530.Falmouth_seal_makes_a_bouy_its_bed_for_the_night/