Visitors at an aquarium in China had the shock of their lives as they witnessed a seal die before their eyes after getting its head stuck in a drain.
The incident happened at Dalian's Sun Asia Ocean World on Sunday, Dec. 29.
Seal gets its head stuck in a drain and dies
A video of the incident was shared on Chinese social media site Douyin, known as TikTok in English.
In the video, a seal had its head firmly stuck in a drain while three other seals swam around its body, trying to nudge it free.
One of them also tried using its flippers to pull the trapped seal away.
Visitors of the aquarium watched in horror from outside the tank as the entire ordeal unfolded in front of them.
Halfway through the video, a staff member was in the water tank and repeatedly pulled the seal by its tail.
The video ended with the worker dragging what appears to be the seal's dead body to the shore.
Response from Sun Asia Ocean World
In a statement posted on its Weibo page on Monday, Dec. 30, the Sun Asia Ocean World said that the incident occurred at 11.25pm.
Here is a translation of its full statement:
"On Dec. 29, 2019 at 11:25pm, at the seal enclosure of Sun Asia Ocean World, a seal had used his mouth and claws to open up a protective covering over a drain, causing it to get stuck by accident.
Professional trainers rushed to rescue the seal, but were unable to save its life.
We are devastated about the seal's passing, for the seal was born here in the aquarium.
We'd like to thank the public's concern regarding this incident.
We will continue to investigate the matter, and make every effort to continue our work in the conservation and rescue of marine animals."
Not the first time
This was not the first time Sun Asia Ocean World has been criticised for its poor treatment of animals.
In June 2018, one of its animal trainers was caught smearing lipstick on a beluga whale.
The aquarium issued a public apology and expressed its "deep remorse" after the incident received strong criticism from Chinese netizens.
Top photo via ღo(TT)Oღ/Douyin.