We continue to be busy, as weanling season is in full swing! Some of these weanlings are staying only a short time on the beach; others are coming back every morning and night but leaving through the busiest part of the day. With rehabilitation facilities still at capacity (they hope to open a few spots in the coming weeks!), we are busy monitoring these animals to keep the public and the seals at safe distances from one another.
Here are a couple photos of the seal at Wallis Sands (was originally the seal we marked last weekend at North Beach in Hampton last weekend) as well as a couple photos from a weanling in Seabrook last night, which was a new animal.
We use the pink paint stick to mark these animals that we are monitoring (the ones that we don’t relocate) so that we can more easily identify them if they are resighted. The grease stick should stay on for about 5-7 days as these seals come and go.
The Wallis Sands weanling taking a rest and rolling in the sand as the tide comes in!
Here is the Wallis Sands seal again that night. She was remarked with paint stick, as the original paint had rubbed off, likely from rolling around on the sand!
This Seabrook Beach male weanling is in great nutritional condition; he might be the most robust weanling we have had this season! He does have some wounds around his mouth and micro-abscesses on his body, but he is bright, alert, responsive, and chunky…just what we like to see!
Seabrook Beach weanling taking a rest in the sand at night.
