HUNDREDS of seals including young pups have been spread "far and wide" after a tidal surge tore through their reserve on the Lincolnshire coast.
Thursday night's tidal surge decimated the Donna Nook seal site – destroying an information building, flattening fences and separating scores of baby seals from their mothers.
Few seals were left on the beach on Friday, with many having sought shelter further inland towards the dunes or having swam out to the North Sea.
Though no seals have been found dead as a result of the surge, it is feared many young pups have been left to fend for themselves.
Wardens cut holes in the fence to let the seals escape inland during the surge, and some were later found in the car park.
The influx of sea water left one of the wardens' information huts completely destroyed.
The owners of the nearby Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary were yesterday on the site looking to take in injured seals or pups that had been separated from their mothers and were too young to survive alone.
Donna Nook wardens have asked the public to stay away for the weekend at least while the recovery operation takes place.
Rob Lidstone-Scott, outer Humber coastal warden at Donna Nook, said: "The site has suffered some damage without a doubt.
"I have been up and down the coast and the seals have been spread far and wide, but a lot have survived with their mothers.
"Thankfully, at the minute, we have no fatalities.
"Some of the pups were ready to go out to sea anyway and the vast majority of the breeding is over for the year now.
"At 5pm on Thursday, the water was already up to the fence, we put precautions in place but there's not much you can do to stop the power of the sea.
"We cut holes in the fence to allow them inland and some are now even in a cattle grazing area nearby.
"Fortunately, on Friday morning the tide was not as bad as we feared, but we have lost the information hut and much of the fence which is now in pieces.
"We are therefore asking people to stay away from the site for the weekend at least.
"We will need time for the sea to calm down, and we will need longer to make the site safe."
One of the seal pups which was forced out to sea was found on Cleethorpes beach on Friday morning, near to the Kingsway Hotel.
Passing police officers discovered it and quickly nicknamed it Sammy.
Council staff arrived on the scene but it was decided to leave the seal to return to the sea of its own accord, which it later did.
