After stories of seals inflicting brutal injuries to porpoises and having sex with penguins and eating them afterwards, it's reassuring to see video of a seal doing something natural such as giving birth.

It's especially reassuring when the seal in question is not giving birth to a seal-penguin love hybrid.

The video shows a grey seal known as "Ropeneck" giving birth to a pup on the sand in Lincolnshire. It was shot by a visitor to the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts' Donna Nook National Nature Reserve.

"Ropeneck" apparently got her name because she arrived at the sanctuary tangled in fishing rope, which staff had to cut off.

The reserve’s website says that the seals spend most of the year at sea but that every November and December they give birth to their pups near sand dunes. The spectacle attracts thousands of visitors.

The UK is home to around 40 percent of the world's grey seal population, with the largest number located in the Orkney islands off Scotland.