Seal of approval for tea treatment

An abandoned baby seal is being treated for an eye condition with strong cups of chilled tea, according to keepers at an aquarium.

The two-month-old female pup, named Frankie, was discovered by a walker on Redcar beach before being taken to Sea Life Scarborough, where she was undergoing treatment for several health issues.

However, a vet prescribed a more unusual medicine for a problem with her eyes - baths of cold black tea.

Lyndsey Crawford-Darwell from Sea Life said the team "wanted to try a nice natural remedy and a strong tea has done its job".

Crawford-Darwell said Frankie was underweight at about 8kg when she arrived at the centre, with cuts and bruises, a bad infection and "gunky eyes".

"She was on lots of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, we don't really like to overload the animals with lots of prescribed drugs," she said.

She added that using the tea to clean up Frankie's eyes was "a nice bit of advice from one of our vets".

Crawford-Darwell said, after about three days of treatment, there was a "big improvement" to Frankie's eyes.

She said the team were hoping to get Frankie's weight up to 30kg before she can be released back into the wild.

"She's doing really well. She is now on the road to recovery," she added.

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