TWO new common seals have been given a warm welcome at their new home at Weymouth SeaLife Centre.

The two female seals, called Luna and Sija, arrived at the centre on Tuesday from the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Gweek.

Luna is visually impaired and took on the roll of Sija’s surrogate mum when the pup’s mum died when she was just a month old.

Luna and Sija have now joined the park’s resident seal girl group of Web, Smartie and Starburst, to stop anymore illicit breeding.

While at The Cornish Seal Sanctuary, Sija had two pups with ageing lothario seal Babyface - despite her being on the contraceptive pill and him being thought to be too old to breed at 37-years-old.

Staff said that as he is believed to be one of the oldest common seals in captivity – and technically, by his age, Babyface should have been infertile.

So to prevent more breeding, the decision was taken to split the group and send the girls to Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park, where there are no male seals.

Fiona Smith, Displays Curator, said: “We are really excited that Luna and Sija can stay in the SeaLife family.

“The transfer of Luna and Sija to Weymouth on Tuesday went really well. As soon as we opened the crates at Weymouth they popped their heads out and were eager to explore.

“When the new seals then went into the pool, Smartie Starburst and especially Web were all really interested in meeting them and this was great for us to see.”

Staff said that moving Luna and Sija to Weymouth was a carefully planned operation, as both seals underwent specialist training to prepare them for the move.

On Tuesday, the seal’s pool in Cornwall was drained and Luna and Sija were coaxed into separate crates made especially for them.

The seals were then loaded onto a van and driven with two team members that they knew and trusted, to Weymouth.

After this, the two seals were let straight out into the in the seal enclosure pool to meet their new adoptive sisters.

Fiona added: “Web Smartie and Starburst stayed at The Cornish Seal Sanctuary recently when we did refurbishments at the Weymouth park.

“They were not far away from Luna and Sija, so it’s great for them all to finally meet. We are delighted to have Luna and Sija here in Weymouth.

“The team at both sites will be giving all the seals lots of extra love, attention and feeding activities to keep them occupied.”