This is the heart-warming moment a young seal almost throttled to death by plastic packaging is returned to the wild.

The juvenile male had been found three weeks ago with the plastic wound so tightly around its neck it had cut into his flesh.

Harrowing video footage of his stay at a clinic run by Argentina’s Mundo Marino Foundation in San Clemente del Tuyu shows his skin had been rubbed raw.

But after nearly a month of intensive treatment under the care of marine vets, the seal has been released back into the wild.

Newsflash obtained footage of him – along with a new friend who had also been undergoing treatment – making a run for the ocean on 30th May from the foundation.

As workers arrive at the beach they release the cage doors and both seals emerge and can instantly sniff out the surf.

Then they run as fast as their flippers will take them towards the water and swim off together as their rescuers look on proudly.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the foundation on Wednesday, 31st May, saying: “The juvenile male seal of the South American Two-Haired species (Arctocephalus australis) returned to the sea on the morning of this Tuesday, May 30, after a rehabilitation period of almost three weeks in the rescue centre of the Mundo Marino Foundation.

“The animal had been admitted on 11th May with a deep wound on its neck from a plastic strap, commonly used for industrial packaging.”

Foundation vet Bianca Mancini added: “After completing the treatment with antibiotics and anti-anemics, a second blood sample was extracted, which returned normal parameters.”

She added: “Along with the fact that he showed a good attitude and maintained a good body condition, the little seal showed that he was already fit to return to the sea.”