Dubai: A recent social media post of a seal pup using a plastic bottle as a pillow has gone viral. The pup with its umbilical cord still attached was found sleeping on a beach in the UK.
The picture left social media users worried about the environmental implications.
The image was taken, according to media reports, by an amateur British photographer named John Evered on a trip to Horsey Beach in Norfolk (a county in the United Kingdom). He was quoted as having said “It was such an amazing sight. There were hundreds of seals all over the beach.”
A lage population of the world’s seals are located along the British coast, and they often nest on the beaches, This particular seal seems to be only a few days old since its umbilical cord remains attached.
Social media users could not help but find the image adorable. Facebook user Crystal Whelan posted: “It is horrible that there is plastic everywhere, but how cute is that little pup!”
Others social media users such as Sean Skipworth added to the posting thread: “Well who thought an old bottle would make a baby seal look like a sibling for the young ones to cuddle!”
A large share of users, however, were not amused by the situation, feeling worried for the deteriorating condition of the environment and the animals that suffer.
Aquatic life is increasingly endangered by plastic pollution and global warming. A study from Plymouth University found that more than half the species of marine mammals and seabirds have been affected by plastic debris in water bodies. A report from The International Union for Conservation of Nature found that close to 700 species have encountered debris in the water, with almost half the encounters resulting in entanglement and ingestion.
Social media user Jason Fox posted on Facebook: “Why is everyone promoting this as a good thing? ...plastic is killing our planet along with other things. Why doesn’t someone set up a programme where VOLUNTEERS clean places up. Before you all hit me with the ‘well what do you do’, I clear my local area up and live nowhere near a beach otherwise I would.”
Facebook user Zé Manita commented: ”...We call ourselves the superior species, the rational ones and yet this is the best we can do. We have no respect for the planet or any of all the other species we have the luck to share the planet with. We need to remember that we don’t own the planet, we just been living here rent free, but because that is not enough . We have been damaging the planet beyond repair and sooner or later we are going to pay the price for our behaviour and trust me that will cost us dearly. “
