This heartwarming video shows a day-old seal pup being rescued by volunteers after being abandoned by its mother.
The female grey seal – named Morwenna – was plucked from a beach after it was spotted crying for a whole day.
Experts were called by a concerned member of the public and volunteers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust responded.
They stayed and watched the pup for several hours to check whether a mother was returning to feed her but none arrived.
Sue Sayer from the Cornwall Seal Group was then joined by Tamara Cooper, curator at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary and they both abseiled down to the beach to rescue the pup.
Footage shows the pair negotiating the steep descent before walking across the West Cornwall beach towards the abandoned youngster.
Tamara said “We knew straight away that the pup needed rescuing and this might be our only chance to save its life.
“I was easily able to immobilise the pup with a towel and assess its condition.
“Fortunately its temperature was normal and it had no obvious injuries, so Sue and I bundled it into the seal rescue bag and carried it back across the beach.”
Once Morwenna was up, a quick assessment was performed where it determined she was a one day old female, otherwise in reasonable health.
Tamara added: “She is being fed every four hours and the team are just starting to introduce her to fish soup, to ensure she is gaining weight correctly.
“She will be looked after in our indoor hospital for a few weeks, but as soon as she is feeding for herself she will move to the outdoor nursery pools.”
Morwenna is now settling into her new surroundings at the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek near Helston.
With up to 60 pups expected each year, the rescue centre likes to plan ahead with a theme for their names.
This year they have decided on characters from the BBC’s ‘Poldark’ which is mainly based in Cornwall.
