Adorable ‘Sammy the Seal’ captured splashing in the water near Hartlepool shore

Denny Hunter, 77, was out on his daily walk when he noticed a number of seals in the water near the Banjo Pier on Tuesday morning, January 25.

He managed to capture the moment on camera and even photographed Sammy the Seal – who Denny says he has seen before.

The former miner said: “There was three of them. They were all in the water, going up and down the bay.

"One of them kept coming up and popping up. I got good shots of him.

“It’s lovely. It’s not very often you get to see them in the water.”

Denny named the animal Sammy the Seal after spotting it for the first time back in November 2021.

He explained: "I just called him Sammy the Seal. It’s only me that called him Sammy, but nearly everybody else is calling him Sammy now.”

Denny, who is originally from Horden but has been living in Hartlepool for 30 years, first spotted a seal on the shore a couple of years ago and says the animals have become a more regular sight on a morning now.

The RSPCA say that seals can give a nasty bite, which could cause an infection because of bacteria that lives in the seal’s mouth.

The advice is to keep pets at distance and not to try to put the seal back in the water.

If you spot an injured or sick seal, contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

Support your Mail and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters.

Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling Hartlepool’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe - and click here to get a snapshot of the Mail’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.