Five seal pups have been released back into the wild after being rescued and nursed back to health by a Highland seal centre.

The five pups - Mira, Spidey, Pip, Sheldon and Scarf - were taken in by the Highland Seal Hospital after being separated from their mothers.

Staff at the Thurso centre released the pups back into the sea on Tuesday after they had been successfully nursed back to health.

Jamie Dyer, hospital manager, said the pups averaged around two or three weeks old when they were taken in, between the end of November and mid-December.

He said: "A couple of them were pretty badly injured. Spidey's rear flipper was pretty much ripped apart by another seal. He had quite a lot of infection going on.

"Because they were separated from their mothers before they were weaned, the pups were pretty emaciated."

Staff at the Highland centre brought the pups, which had come in weighing around 9kg, up to a weight of around 40kg before they were released.

The release, at an undisclosed location, was successful and the centre now has only two more seals to take care of.