An injured baby seal was saved from starving to death by volunteers after it was found washed up on a beach.

The malnourished, four-month-old pup was nursing an eye infection and a wound on its side when it was found near Reculver Towers.

Jez Stone, a volunteer from Divers Marine Life Rescue, took the seal to the Mallydams Wood RSPCA centre near Hastings to be treated after being called out to it on Wednesday last week.

“It wasn’t very well at all,” he said.

“There’s a fair chance it may have died if we hadn’t found it.

“It could have starved because it was weak and only able to function with one eye.” The grey seal was 15kg to 20kg underweight when Mr Stone found it.

The causes of the wound and eye infection are unknown, but the volunteer speculated they could be injuries from a fight, or a collision with a rock.

“There was a little bit of movement in it,” he said.

“Grey seals can be very aggressive when they’re scared and this one was quite aggressive and tried to bite us.”

It is hoped the seal will make a full recovery, like that of a nine-month-old pup found near Hampton Pier before Christmas.

“The first pup is very healthy now,” Mr Stone said. “It’s off the medication and feeding itself and will be released back into the wild soon.”