A MARINE conservation attraction is mourning the passing of its oldest resident seal, Bruno.

The Harbour Seal, who has lived at Sea Life Scarborough since 1989, passed away on Wednesday (August 22) at the age of 29.

The seal was famous among staff for his protest when an attempt was made to remove one of his friends, a seal named Mando, and relocate him to another Sea Life centre.

Lyndsey Crawford-Darwell, head of animal care, said: ““Bruno was a real character. He developed a strong bond with one of our other residents Mando after he arrived. Mando was originally supposed to move to SEA LIFE Hunstanton but when it came time to move him Bruno was so determined not to have his best mate taken away he lay between us and Mando.

“They wanted to stay together so much Mando stayed with us and they spent the following years chasing each other round the pool! He leaves behind his other pool mates Pendle, Herbie and Ed who I’m sure will miss him as much as we will.”

Early post mortem investigations indicate the cause was kidney stones, common in older harbour seals, as well as old age. In the wild, harbour seals will live to the age of about 25 to 30.