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A Seal Story: From Rescue to Release

It's not too often the Rescue Team gets to share the result of a seal brought to rehabilitation, but this is a great story I'm glad to have been a part of and would love to share how we were able to work with the team from the University of New England Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center (UNE MARC) for a positive outcome.﻿

Back on April 25th, the Rescue team received a report of a seal in Duxbury, MA close to dark.  We don't normally respond in the dark, but it was still light enough that a field volunteer was able to take a look and make sure people were not still approaching the animal.  The animal ended up being a grey seal, and here is her story.

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UNE did another release of three harbor seals from the whale watch boat the next day.  There is a great story about one of the animals, Wiggle, which you can see in this news video.  Also, on a side note, if you ever go to Maine, save the date for UNE's Frolic for Flippers on September 22nd.  This 5K is a great fundraising event hosted by UNE MARC.

It was a fantastic day overall.  A special thanks to the UNE crew for rehabilitating this seal and inviting us along for the release, as well as to Indian Whale Watch for a fantastic adventure.

Posted by Kerry at 7:14 PM 4 comments Labels: gray seal, minke whale, release, Satellite tag, University of New England


Lunch Break with the Sea Turtles Hangout on Air

New England Aquarium Marine Animal Rescue Team
Sea Turtle Webcast using Google's Hangouts on Air

Thank you for joining us on the Marine Animal Rescue Team Blog and on the Aquarium's Google+ page to get a live look at the rescue team's work. Here's the recorded hangout.

Looking for more? Check out this previously webcast and this research page for general information about the Aquarium's sea turtle rescue program. You can also read previous posts from this season for more details about the current group of rescued sea turtles.

Stay tuned to this blog for some follow up posts from the Hangout on Air, and leave comments with us if you'd like to be part of the next Hangout!
Posted by NEAQ at 8:00 AM 9 comments Labels: hangout, sea turtles, webcast


Today! Lunch with the Sea Turtles Google+ Webcast! Daredevil is getting ready for the close-up. 


Seal Pups on the Beach

Every summer, harbor seal pups come on shore and we must learn to share the beach with them.  Unfortunately for these young animals, as they learn life on their own (it only takes 4 weeks for them to be weaned and completely independent from their mother!), they tend to pick some crowded or awkward beaches to rest on.  The best thing you can do for them is keep your distance and call our stranding hotline - 617-973-5247.


Sometimes seals, like the one above, sustain wounds.  Not all are life threatening though so when you call our hotline, remaining calm and using the best description of the wound is extremely helpful.  We may ask for photos to assess, but you should remember not to get too close.  Seals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act so it is illegal to harass them in any way (anything that will alter their natural behavior).  The above photo shows a seal that was closely approached by the photographer, so he is unable to rest as he would normally do on the beach.

Seals should never be covered or have water poured on them.  It is natural for them to be on the beach, and they are able to thermoregulate so you do not want to interfere with that process.  Also, do not offer the animal any food.  Seals are opportunistic feeders and do not eat every day or on land.  Human food is also not appropriate for them.


Another case we dealt with last week involved a seal with a fish hook in it's mouth.  The pictures below tell the tale.  The seal came out on a very crowded beach, but luckily some beach goers were able to rope the area off for us.  This gave us time to respond with out the seal being scared back into the water.

We were able to remove the fish hook fairly easily.  We cleaned up the wound, which wasn't as severe as you would expect, and relocated the seal to a quiet beach where it could get the rest it needed to heal.  Or in this case it went back in the water (photo above).  This article from the Newburyport Daily News explains how everyone, including state police and the public, came together that day to make a bad situation have a good outcome.

As you can see, seals are keeping us pretty busy these days. You can read past posts here on what to do when you see a seal on the beach. But we also have some turtles still in our care.

Don't forget about the Live Webcast On Wednesday July 18th at noon to see our sea turtle patients and get an update on the rescue department activities. I hope to see you there!

Posted by Kerry at 3:44 PM 0 comments Labels: harbor seal, hotline, Marine Mammal Protection Act, rescue team, seal pups

 








Posted by Adam at 11:59 AM 0 comments