But this little pup is scared of the cold.

Instead of relishing his native cold waters of Alaska, two-year-old Sahara prefers warmer seas like the Mediterranean.

The hooded seal would rather sweat than shiver and has had to be rescued twice after ended up a thousand miles from his home in his search for warmth.

He first washed up on a beach in the Canary Islands and was flown to the National Seal Sanctuary in Gweek, Cornwall, to recuperate before being released again near the Orkneys.

But instead of heading back towards Greenland, he turned south again and made his way to Spain to be rescued a second time.

Now Sahara is being encouraged by carers at the sanctuary to conquer his phobia of the cold by using a giant ice machine.

The seal pup swam miles from his home to reach warmer climes

He scuttled to the opposite end of his enclosure when they first started shovelling in the ice, but the cold treatment seems now to be working.

Animal care supervisor Ms Cooper said: “It took a little while, but some memory from his pup-hood eventually seemed to surface and he came for a closer inspection.

“Once he’d had a sniff and then slid over the top of it for the first time he found he actually likes it.

“We don’t think it will be long now before Sahara is a proper ice-loving Alaskan seal again.”