Visitors to beautiful beaches across Swansea and Gower are being urged to join a voluntary ban on flying rings to protect seals living around the coast.
The cute and inquisitive creatures have made their home on rocky outcrops around Gower, but their lives are put at risk by the discarded doughnut-shaped flying rings which can snare them round their necks.
Swansea Council has already been working with Gower Seal Group, local schools and businesses on Gower to promote the ban after passing a notice of motion that aims to see an end to the use of the rings anywhere near wildlife along the area’s coastline.
Gower businesses Pitton Cross Caravan and Camping, Kennexstone Camping and Touring Park, and Surfside Café, Langland, Northway Garage, Bishopston have already voluntarily stopped selling them.
Gower Seal Group continue to visit schools in the area to talk to youngsters about seals and other marine life, spotlighting how they can support the effort.
Gareth Richards, Founder of Gower Seal Group and Vice Chair of the UK Seal Alliance Executive, said: “Nobody buys a flying ring with the intention of causing pain and suffering to seals. But that’s what can happen if a flying ring is lost or discarded at a beach or near a waterway.
“A seal’s natural curiosity and playfulness when finding a flying ring in the water soon becomes a nightmare when, very quickly, they find themselves trapped by one around their neck.”
He said the creatures can’t free themselves of this entanglement and as they grow the ring tightens restricts their movement and will often cause pain, suffering and ultimately death.
And now the seal group is planning a national campaign to ‘Save Our Seals From Flying Rings’, launching on May 26, which includes a petition calling on the Government to ban the import of flying rings and to councils across the UK to ban them.
Mr Richards said: “That’s why we are extremely grateful to councillors in Swansea for continuing to support this campaign and showing leadership to protect our visiting seals from suffering by not supporting the sale or use of flying rings in our area.”
Andrew Stevens, Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure, said: “We fully support what Gower Seal Group is doing to protect our seals. We are so lucky to have seals near many of our beaches in Swansea and Gower.
“The vast majority of the many thousands of people who visit Gower every year treat the area, its wildlife and its coastline with respect. Along with the Gower Seal Group we are urging visitors to play their part to protect our seal population as well.”
Rocky coastal spots such as Limeslade and Bracelet Bay, as well as Port Eynon and Langland Bay have all been known to provide resting spots for groups of seals as well as thousands of visiting public every year.
Seals spend around 80% of their time at sea and come ashore along Gower to rest, sleep and digest their food.
The short time they are on land is vital to their health but also makes them vulnerable to the impact of humans on their lives.
