A special commission will investigate how sick seals are treated in future, the economic affairs ministry announced on Friday.

The commission will begin its six-month research period in September and will be headed by the director general of the RIVM, the Dutch national institute for public health and the environment.

There are five shelters for sick seals in the Netherlands, and the group will look at when they should be rescued and how to look after their welfare when they are re-released into the wild.

There are currently around 10,000 seals in the Netherlands, reports ANP, and 90% of them live in the Wadden Sea.