By Isle of Wight Observer
Staff at a Shanklin cafe had an unexpected customer pop in for lunch last week – a grey seal pup.
The young seal made its way up the beach to The Lazy Wave, and fell asleep on its deck area.
A staff member from the cafe said: “Well, we had a rather unusual customer pop by – a seal! Clearly, he heard about our 99s and decided to flop in for one himself!
“Definitely our cutest (and chunkiest) customer yet. Big thanks and a huge shout out to the amazing team at British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) for always being on hand to help our unexpected seaside visitors.”
The seal, named Elmer, weighed just 13kg (29lbs), rather than the expected 45kg for an animal of his age, and was dehydrated and exhausted.
BDMLR said the little pup was initially fed overnight at Carisbrooke vets to stabilise him.
He was then taken by ferry to the mainland with the charity’s medics and “slept soundly for most of the journey”.
A spokesman said: “We handed him to the expert care of the RSPCA rehabilitation centre at Mallydams, in Horsham. Elmer will spend the next couple of months regaining his strength and piling on the blubber he needs to thrive back in the wild when he is released back on the west coast.”