A British man bitten by a fur seal and left with a major injury on the remote island of South Georgia was rescued by British Royal Navy and Air Force crews over the weekend.
The man was visiting the Salisbury Plain Breach on South Georgia, an island located more than 1,500km east of the Falkland Islands, aboard a Russian cruise ship when he was bitten by what is believed to be a fur seal, according to a statement from the Royal Air Force.
The man was believed to be seriously injured and needed medical attention.
The cruise ship headed for Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, and the British Forces, started a rescue mission on a helicopter with a military doctor on board. The helicopter had to stop once and refuel due to the long distance, but continued to the cruise ship, where the patient was lifted up and transported to hospital.
According to the RAF, the patient arrived at hospital 24 hours sooner than he would have had he remained on the ship.