Shock as seal spotted miles inland swimming in River Don near Doncaster

Rodge Annis was out strolling between Kirk Bramwith and Barnby Dun yesterday morning when he suddenly spotted the animal bobbing through the water.

He said: “It was totally unexpected.

"A few people have commented saying they too have seen it previously.

"Some said the saw it the other month, others have been saying they saw it last week.”

He spotted the mammal at the Don Aqueduct between the two villages at around 11am and shared the picture to social media.

One nature enthusiast commented: “Possibly same one seen a few weeks ago.

"I hope it’s around when I go there. Looks like a young common seal. It is good eating for it in the Don, teeming with fish.”

It is not the first sighting of a seal in the Don in recent years.

In 2020, walker Mark Hudson was followed by a seal as he enjoyed a stroll along the river at Kirk Bramwith.

The seal - believed to have pursued salmon up the partly-tidal river from the Humber estuary - spent ten minutes following Mark and partner Sharon Hathaway.

He said: “He was definitely looking at us and kept swimming up close to see if we were still there.

“As we crept closer to the river bank he would duck back underwater and then pop up again 20-30 seconds later 20 metres away.

“He wasn't scared at all - it was pretty spectacular.”

However the plucky sea creature - which Mark said looked ‘like a big dog’ - eventually disappeared as he and Sharon neared a bridge.

Mark said: “A friend of mine involved in conservation tells me they do come up this far a few times a year.

“But we couldn’t believe what we were seeing.”

There have been other sightings of seals on the region’s rivers, with one spotted in York city centre, swimming along the River Ouse in 2022.

And it comes after a walrus named Thor delighted visitors to Scarborough on New Year’s Eve as it rested in the town's harbour as it made its way north.