THERE are a lot worse ways to spend a crisp winter morning than on the picturesque River Deben – as this visitor knows only too well.

The seal often basks in the sun on an old tree trunk that floated down from Melton and got caught on moorings opposite the Woodbridge Boatyard.

Geoff Sinton, director of the boatyard, said: “To avoid having any boats damaged, we anchored the trunk to a spare mooring until it could be removed.

“This autumn a seal started using it as a bathing platform, and is often there around high tide.”