A SEAL pup, rescued from difficulty because of a fishing net tied around her neck, was released back into the sea this morning.

Moaning Myrtle - named after the Harry Potter character because of her mewing cries - was released at Gwithian after three weeks recovering at the National Seal Sanctuary.

They were alerted to her plight by a team of divers who encountered her sorrowful wailing in a cove off St Ives Bay.

A rescue operation was launched which saw animal care worker, Dan Jarivs, risking it all by abseiling into the sea to save the pup.

Mr Jarvis said: "We've seen this same sort of injury a few times before.

"She obviously got the netting caught round her neck when she was very young, and as she's grown it's gradually scythed deeper and deeper into the skin."

Myrtle's protective blubber had been cut through and she was slowly being strangled, leaving her with a wide, deep wound around her neck.

Animal care supervisor, Tamara Cooper, said: "She is a bit older than our normal seals.

"The salt water had kept her neck clean and the netting had been cut off by the rescuers. We just had to keep the wound clean with antibiotics."

She said they see about three seals a year with similar injuries.

They normally get caught in the netting while still young, with it only becoming a problem as they grow. Sadly once they are bigger the seals become harder to catch so there are a lot who can't be treated.

She added: "There are a lot of seals out there with these sorts of injuries; it's just whether we can get to them."

The sanctuary encourages fishermen not to lose or discard scraps of netting at sea and for beach-goers to dispose properly of any they find washed ashore.

On her release in a haze of low sea mist and light drizzle, the pup was successfully returned to the wild yesterday morning.

Lolloping about 10 yards from her cage to the Godreavy shore, Myrtle then displayed her swimming prowess to onlookers, playing in the surf close to shore, before joining some surfers out at the break, and eventually slipping out of sight.

Laura Ward, marketing coordinator at the sanctuary, said it made workers and volunteers feel "happy/sad. It is sad to see them go… but we want them back in the wild. It's what we do it for".