The seal, which was a familiar sight around the Great Orme, was found with the “severe entanglement” around its neck, believed to “some sort of PVC end pipe”.
Suffering from serious neck injuries, the seal sadly succumbed to its injuries shortly thereafter.
Having worn the plastic collar for a number of years, the seal was the subject of a two-year rescue plan in an attempt to surgically remove the burden.
But the North Wales Seal Research Organisation (NWSRO) said “No such facilities” in Wales were capable of dealing with the “horrific” injury for such a large animal.
A NWSRO spokesperson said: “Back in 2022 we met with British Divers Marine Life Rescue to discuss the case and understand what kind of rescue attempt, if any, could be made.
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“This would have required a very specific alignment of circumstances to allow us access to the tricky terrain to safely secure the large seal and would likely require surgical intervention and expert veterinary care.
“We have no such facilities in Wales capable of dealing with these horrific injures on such a large complex animal. However, we remained hopeful that our collaborative ideas would mean one day the stars would align and we could help this poor suffering individual.
“Sadly this animal has now succumbed to their injuries. Research has shown that although entanglements do not necessarily cause instant death, they can impact seals over long periods of time causing suffering and altering their natural diving behaviours impacting them in a myriad of ways and all entanglements of this type will eventually be fatal if not removed.
“Although rescue teams never had the opportunity to help this individual, the monitoring was successful due to the passionate people working, volunteering and consulting along our coast.
“We would like to thank everyone involved in this case, including Anna Griffiths, Dan Jarvis and Julia Tucker. Successful conservation requires successful collaboration and people working together in the best interest of our wildlife.
“This serves as a heart-breaking reminder of our human impacts on innocent animals like our seals and that we must limit marine litter at its source because it’s impacts have potential to be devastating.
“We currently have around 15 cases of seal entanglements along our North Wales coast and we hope one day we will be able to help them.”