Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park reunites separated seal lovers thanks to the wonders of modern technology

Atmosphere - It is often said that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and this could be the case for former lovers Sija and Babyface - who are common seals. Sija and Babyface lived together at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary until this summer, when Sija was moved to Weymouth to live in a female-only enclosure, leaving the father of her seal-pups (Babyface) behind. Whilst both seals have adjusted well to the split, the teams wanted to make sure they didn't begin to miss each other, so they set up SealTime, an IPad video link which enables separated seal lovers Sija and Babyface to re-connect from over 160 miles apart. Distance is not the first obstacle their romance has overcome. At 37 years of age, Babyface is thought to be one of the oldest seals in captivity and should have been too old to breed due to old-age infertility. As 10 year old Sija was on the seal contraceptive pill, it was felt the two could live together without the arrival of any baby seals. But to everyone's surprise, Sija and Babyface conceived two pups illicitly whilst together, and it was therefore decided to separate the pair to prevent the birth of any more. Along with adopted mother Luna, Sija has since joined fellow female seals Smartie, Web and Starburst at Weymouth SEA LIFE Adventure Park and is thriving and happy in her new home. As Sija had been apart from Babyface all summer, the animal care team arranged regular calls to her long-distance lover in order to keep their romance alive. Fiona Smith, Displays Curator at Weymouth SEA LIFE said: "Sija has settled in really well with the other girls here, but we thought it would be nice for her and Babyface to keep in touch so we've arranged a video link. "At first the seals were both unsure about approaching the iPad, but once they saw each other they nosed up to it which was really nice to see. It's definitely the most high tech enclosure we have at Weymouth SEA LIFE so we're really pleased that SealTime is a success!" F - Weymouth, United Kingdom - Thursday 29th October 2015 (1 Picture)