A young seal has been rescued by locals on the Shetland Isles after it was discovered trapped in discarded fishing nets.
The little grey seal looked terrified as it struggled to free itself after it washed up on the shoreline at Wester Quarff on the Shetland mainland.
Luckily, local woman Ailish Parham happened to be passing on her lunchtime walk when she discovered the stricken and distressed animal.
After failing to cut it free herself, Ailish called for help from the nearby Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary.
Unable to assist themselves they managed to call around and contact Lerwick Port Controller Ryan Leith who went to the rescue and managed to cut the seal free and help it back to the sea.
A post by the relieved staff at the sanctuary read: "It looks like the seal had not long been caught in the netting as it had not cut through the skin, but only rubbed away some of its fur around the neck.
"A very lucky selkie indeed. Far too many of our marine creatures are never able to free themselves from these floating death traps and suffer terribly.
"All the more reason for us all to focus our minds on keeping our shoreline as clear as possible of debris whenever we come across it.
"A huge thank you to Ailish and Ryan for saving this young seal's life."
Followers of the page were quick to praise the pair for saving the seal.
One wrote: "Brilliant, what a lovely story to start the New Year. Well done to all involved!"
While another added: "Oh dear poor little seal. Thank you for saving this baby."
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