An injured seal pup that washed up on a beach has died after selfie hunters forced it to retreat back into the sea.
The grey seal had been suffering from serious injuries to one of its flippers caused by a fishing line that had cut into its bone.
The stricken mammal first beached itself at West Bexington, Dorset.
It was forced to return to the water after becoming scared by members of the public who crowded around to take pictures.
It came ashore a second time hours later at dusk when most people had left.
A concerned member of the public spotted it and called the RSPCA.
Derek Davey, a local wildlife expert, temporarily took care of the seal.
It was transferred to RSPCA's centre at West Hatch, near Taunton, Somerset, for treatment, but it sadly died there.
Mr Davey has slammed onlookers who surrounded and scared the pup.
He said that although the seal would have probably died anyway, its pain was prolonged by the delay in it being rescued.
He said: "Taking photographs and crowding around it made it go back into the water to get away.
"Luckily it later came ashore again hours later. It would still have been the same result had it been rescued earlier but it must have endured quite a sow death by going back into the sea.
"It had a fishing line around its flipper which had dug into the bone and the wound was infected."
The RSPCA said the seal was in an an 'emaciated condition' and had an infection in its bones.
A spokesman for the charity said: "The wildlife vet cleaned the wound out but the infection was already in the bone and so the decision was made to put the seal to sleep based on the extent of this injury and the impact it would have on the future of the seal.
"The vet said the wound was narrow, and deep, and although they did not find anything within the wound which could have caused it, it is thought something like fishing line had been wrapped around it."
