West Bay's newest temporary resident has been causing quite a stir and audience.

You may have seen the seal in the harbour, lounging on the pontoons when they were still out or his head bopping along in the water.

He has swum 40 miles to spend some time relaxing in west Dorset, making the journey from Brixham, but it's not the first time he has come to the county.

In Torbay, he is known as BRX70 'Crinkle' due to a distinctive scar across his face between his eyes and The Seal Project's sightings of him go back to August 2017.

Sarah Greenslade of The Seal Project said: "It seems he's quite fond of the Dorset area too as not only has he been seen in West Bay, but he was in Lyme Regis in February 2019 – only five days after being seen in Brixham.

"In Torbay this year, we've seen him in February and several times over the summer months."

It was Sarah Hodgson from Dorset Wildlife Trust who made the match from 2019, recognising him from one of The Seal Project's Facebook posts.

The Seal Project also received some photos last week from a swimmer in West Bay who wondered if the team knew the sea. A Facebook post also appeared, clearly showing it was him, showing him "chilling out in the company of an otter".

Sarah added: "It seems he enjoys this route – around 60km/40 nautical miles – between Brixham and West Bay.

"It goes to show the power of photo identifications and collaboration between researchers. The numbers given to this seal are his recorded numbers at Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust, who we send all recorded sightings to.

"He's an amazing creature and has obviously fought some battles to have such scars. We will be keeping our eyes open for him to reappear in Brixham – last year we recorded sightings of him in November and December.

"If you see a seal resting on land, watch from a distance, but do not approach the animal. This is a valuable resting time for them and is part of their normal behaviour.

"Always remember, these are wild animals who carry zoonotic diseases. Stormy seas can cause seals to haul out in strange places to regain their strength, but they should not be approached.

"If you are concerned about a seal, please call the British Divers Marine Life Rescue hotline on 01825 765546. They will then send a medic out to assess the animal."

Crinkle was subject to a British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) call out over the weekend in Seaton and caused quite a scare.

Sarah said: "They thought he was end of life and called a vet, however, he decided he wasn't ready for that so swam off. We didn't know about this until I saw the BDMLR post – we are medics but the call out was out of our area – and instantly recognised him.

"He was briefly seen yesterday morning (Sunday), but we're hoping he is heading back towards south Devon where we know he spent last winter. We are keeping our fingers crossed."

He was spotted in West Bay harbour yesterday afternoon.