Sahara, the sun-worshipper

Spain or Iceland? One smart seal!

An Arctic hooded seal rescued off the coast of Africa last year and taken to Britain to be nursed back to health has paddled in the wrong direction again, turning up off the Spanish coast.

The story of Sahara began last year when he was only a few months old and was washed up on the shore of Morocco, far from the normal migratory zone of a loner animal that mates near Iceland and Greenland.Sahara was weak and had lost his fur when he was found, said Tamara Cooper of the National Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall. "We think he left a breeding area in Iceland and got completely lost and followed the shelf down to Morocco," she said.

In April, he was sent from Spain to the sanctuary in Cornwall so he could learn to socialise with other animals and gain weight. After six months, the sanctuary attached a satellite tag to Sahara, and released him near the Orkney Isles on October 10.The seal first headed towards Iceland, but then changed course and went south again, towards Spain. He was found on Sunday in the bay of Ondarroa, 45 miles from Bilbao. From Ondarroa, Sahara was taken to a rescue facility in San Sebastián, where his health is now being checked, Cooper said. "We're disappointed that he headed south and not back up north," she said. "But we're relieved that he's safe and well."

Sahara's urge to go south is a mystery. Other hooded seals have been observed to be heading south from the Arctic over the last 10 years, said Cooper, but the reason is not known. They may be following ocean currents or fish movements. Sahara's future has not yet been decided. "We hope he gets one more chance to remain free, instead of being protected here," Cooper said.