BRITISH holidaymakers have been warned to keep away from SEALS in Cornwall because they "could take a child's arm off".
An expert has said "powerful" male seals can be extremely territorial, and females protect their young if they feel threatened.
The amount of people swimming with seals in St Ives, Cornwall, has gone up over the last few years, according to harbour master Steve Bassett.
He has now put up notices around the harbour out of fear someone will be seriously injured.
Mr Bassett said: "I'm afraid that some day someone will lose an arm.
"If seals are both going for territory they can be extremely aggressive.
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"And when a hand comes out towards them they will thinks that's food."
He said that seals were being drawn to the harbour because of the prospect of food, and added: "God forbid something should happen, but one day a seal is going to feel trapped and bite back.
"Seals are massive and the power they have in their jaws is unbelievable."
Seal expert Gill Bell, head of conservation at the Marine Conservation Society in Wales, said wild creatures should not be interfered with.
Ms Bell said: "You would not allow a child to approach a wild dog with food, so why allow them to approach a seal?
"Seals are like toddlers, they will put anything in their mouth."
She added that seals carry diseases which are highly infectious to humans so even a small bite could cause serious harm.
She said: "You should never swim over to where they are because that's when you get issues.
"The main concern is that they could misinterpret an action as a supposed threat.
"They are very gorgeous to look at and that's what we should be doing, looking at them and not getting close to them."
St Ives is home to a 40-strong seal colony which lives on rocks just a few miles from the resort.
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