Seals at high risk of attacks by ‘individuals’

As the first whitecoat seal pups begin to appear around the country’s coast, the Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) has warned that seals are at increased risk of being attacked by humans.

It has called on the public to be “extra vigilant” around the coasts as there has been “an escalation” in “appalling incidents” in recent years, including the decapitation of two adult seals in Dingle this summer.

The two bloodied heads were mounted on plywood and nailed to the entrance of the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary.