Cody the harbour seal was born at North Queensferry attraction’s sister Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth last July.

To mark the special occasion, keepers prepared a special frozen birthday cake for him filled with his favourite fish.

The event was something of a double celebration as Cody’s half-brother Benji, who also came from Tynemouth, also had his second birthday this month.

The pair share their outdoor pool with Deep Sea World’s resident female harbour seals, mother and daughter Morag and Heather.

Deep Sea World’s Michael Morris said, “Both Benji and Cody have settled in extremely well here and get on brilliantly with Morag and Heather.

“As soon as they arrived Benji went straight in and kissed one of the girls! He’s still the more extroverted of the pair but Cody is also thriving and it’s great to see all four of them enjoying each other’s company.

“Celebrating their birthdays is a good excuse for us to spoil them a little bit and, as well as the frozen fish cakes, we gave them a selection of presents to mark the occasion.” Scottish waters are officially home to two species of seal - the common seal and the grey - although occasional visitors also include hooded and harp seals.

Common seals usually live on and around sheltered stretches of coast where they can often be seen on mudflats or sandbanks.

Reaching length of up to two metres common seals are considerably smaller than their grey cousins.

Common seals come ashore in sheltered waters typically on sandbanks and in estuaries but also in rocky areas. They give birth to their pups in June and July and moult in August.