'It looked almost like a shark fin' - Paddleboarder spots seal near West Pier in Brighton

The seal made himself known to a local paddle-boarder. Credit: Mark Inscoe

A seal has been spotted by a paddleboarder in Brighton.

Earlier this morning (15 September) paddle-boarder Mark Inscoe encountered a rare sighting of the marine mammal close to the West Pier in Brighton.

Mark spotted the seal and quickly was able to take a picture of the seal who he believes could be a fully grown adult due to its body size.

He said: "It was just extraordinary.

"I think it was an older seal as it was pretty big - actually it was huge."

Mark said: "I have been paddle-boarding Brighton and Hove beach for about 7 years now and you just never know what you are going to see - usually its just jelly fish and stuff.

"I noticed it just as I was approaching the red buoy close to the pier."

The seal popped his head out of the water just three metres away from the paddle-board.

The seal positioned his nose in a shape that could from a distance look like a shark fin. Credit: Mark Inscoe

"As I was approaching it looked almost like it was a shark fin."

There are two species of seals that live in the UK - common seals and grey seals.

They look similar from a distance, but grey seals are much larger than commons.

Advice from British Life Marine Life Rescue is to admire the seals from a distance otherwise the mammals can become defensive towards humans in fear.

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