The non-tidal section of the River Ouse may be silting up, but there is a very charming creature that is finding the tidal part of the Ouse near York, exact location classified, a fun place to be.

At first my son and I thought it was a log bobbing up and down but after the object remained at the surface for a couple of minutes it was unmistakably a large black seal a long way from home.

We also noticed a cooking apple floating on the river surface and joked that if Sammy, as we had to call the seal, comes up next time wearing a clown’s hat with the apple balanced on its nose it must have escaped from a zoo.

Bob Waite, Holgate, York.