Man cautioned by police after 'recklessly' shooting at seals on Yorkshire coast

The man has also voluntarily handed in his air rifle, which will now be destroyed by police. It comes after Matt Barnes, co-founder of the Yorkshire Seal Group, witnessed 10 separate incident in Filey where the man fired his gun towards seals, not far from a public beach.

The Yorkshire Seal Group which seeks to protect and promote positive human-seal interactions along the coastline. Matt said: “Shooting seals raises serious welfare concerns and could have detrimental repercussions on the reputation of British fishing, it is an unnecessary, archaic and outdated practice which is now illegal.

"We are fortunate in the UK to share our seas with these intelligent, charismatic and globally rare marine mammals, and it is simply deplorable for anyone to attempt to injure or kill them for simply eating the fish in their ocean home. In March 2021 it became illegal to kill, injure and take a seal in UK waters, yet for some the legislative change doesn’t seem to be sinking in.”

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "A man was identified and subsequently interviewed under caution in relation to offences under both the Conservation of Seals Act and the Firearms Act. A decision was made to issue a simple caution for these four offences. The man involved voluntarily surrendered his air weapon for destruction."

Anyone who witnesses anyone injuring seals should call the police, or alternatively visit www.yorkshireseals.org to report disturbance events.