SIGHT-SAVING surgery had to be carried out on two birds at Living Coasts, the coastal zoo at Torquay, by veterinary eye specialist Jim Carter.

The vet has already saved the sight of Grace the seal, and his latest patients were a puffin and a penguin.

The male puffin had abnormal cells on the eye, including salt crystals which had to be removed to encourage healing.

Head keeper Lois Rowell said after the operation: "He's doing really well and the eye has healed very quickly."

Jim also treated a female penguin with a deep ulcer in a cornea, where a special medical glue was applied to seal it in the same way a sticking plaster would close a cut.

Lois said the penguin was doing well. "She's eating well and taking medication," she said. "Her recuperation will take longer, but she's on the road to recovery."

Jim, from the Abbotskerswell Veterinary Centre, treated South American fur seal Grace for a corneal ulcer in 2008.

Ian Sayers, Jim's business partner and husband of zoo vet Ghislaine Sayers, described some of the practical challenges associated with treating marine wildlife.

"Eye medication can get washed away when they enter the water, but keeping them on dry land for treatment can be stressful," he said. "Sometimes we have to anaesthetise them in order to give a full examination but that can be tricky and sea birds can enter a dive reflex which suppresses breathing, which isn't ideal.

"Marine mammals are difficult to anaesthetise and a thorough ocular examination often requires an anaesthetic.

"Water quality is important. Fish can develop eye problems if water quality is poor, which is why the filtration system at Living Coasts is so vital.

"Birds have a well-developed third eyelid for extra protection. This nictitating membrane has a very strong action."