Ashely Stokes | Marine Mammal Rescue Manager
Wow, what a crazy week it has been for the Marine Mammal Rescue Team! Between Labor Day and last night we responded to 23 harbor seal cases! Of those cases, 13 were deceased animals and 10 were live. This is the time of year that we see the young of the year seals that never quite grasped hunting, are thin nutritionally, and are now picking up secondary problems such as pneumonia, lungworm, and seal pox. In addition, the offshore storm activity brought us winds and high surf, which tends to wash in dead animals and takes a toll on the live animals that aren’t feeling well to begin with.
This seal was rescued from Salisbury Reservation September 11th and taken to National Marine Life Center for rehabilitation for a severe wound to his hind flippers, which is likely the result of a boat strike. His future is grim, as they need to determine the extent of how badly the flipper joint is severed, but he is at least receiving antibiotics and pain meds to help him feel a bit better.
This female weanling was on Seabrook Beach.
It may appear that this young seal is trying to camoflague itself on the beach in North Hampton! But it was really just a result of coming out of the water in the high surf, with all of the seaweed that was washing in! Overall this seal was bright, alert, responsive, and overall appeared to be in pretty good health.
