Fishermens' tale of seal: it's Serge, not Sammy...

A pair of anglers who competed with a seal for fish on the Nene yesterday are convinced it wasn't 'Sammy'.

I revealed HERE last week that a seal spotted basking on the Nene was not 'Sammy' who made a name for himself (or herself) with entertaining antics last summer.

The Peterborough Evening Telegraph are taking their seal stories rather seriously...and report this gem from one of the hapless anglers:

'He had no markings on him, but I am convinced it was not Sammy. It would be too much of a coincidence for the same seal to make its way up the river...'

They've named the new seal 'Serge'.

I notice that one of the fishermen is called Mr Waterman.

Very fishy...

I solve mystery of 'Sammy' the slug-like seal...

I've solved the mystery of the slug-like seal spotted on the river at Peterborough earlier this week: it's definitely not Sammy, as the Evening Telegraph speculated a couple of nights ago.

And the seal spotted on the River Nene in the city last year wasn't Sammy either.

I have it on good authority - the BBC website - that Sammy the Seal was sadly shot some years ago, apparently after getting the blame for raiding salmon farms. The death penalty was said to be the last resort after broke his ASBO (anti-salmon-behaviour-order)and ignored the warnings.

Poor Sammy the Scoffer of Salmon (allegedly) couldn't have been an English-speaking seal or he would have read the signs saying he wasn't supposed to eat the salmon he caught, but throw it back like good sports...

Anyway, compare the photo on the right here, that ET reader Steve Farrell snapped a few days ago in Peterborough with the BBC photo (above) of Scottish Sammy munching on his last supper before meeting his maker: I'm sure you'll conclude, as I have, that there's no real likeness.

However, I did enjoy the comments on my original post from GW about Billy the Cardiff seal who was said to have been caught red-handed in the 1930s trying to board a tram...!

He became so famous, the good people of Wales built a statue to Billy.

Keep 'em coming...

Sammy the Seal may be back...but who's Steve the Snapper?

Don't you just love these stories...?

This one started a year ago when Sammy the Seal became a local media after his (or is it her?) antics on the River Nene. But then Sammy slipped away.

The Peterborough Evening Telegraph tonight runs this photo taken a couple of days ago and concludes:"It's hard to tell but it could be Sammy..."

Look, this is serious. Yes, I know it's a bit fuzzy but please look closely. Is it or isn't it...?

For my money, it certainly looks like a seal, possibly doing a rather good impression of a large slug (as readers have commented...) And yes, it could be the return of Sammy...(although how can we be sure the original performing seal was in fact called Sammy...?!)

Anyway, the photo in tonight's paper was apparently snapped by reader Steve Farrell...

I'm not so bothered whether Steve has captured Sammy...

What I'm wondering is whether Steve the seal-snapper (or slug-snapper!) is the same Steve Farrell I used to commute with from Peterborough to London every day some 20-odd years ago...?

It's a small world.