A seal that was rescued after becoming stranded underneath Casino Pier in Seaside Heights is on the mend, officials with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center said Tuesday.
The grey seal was found last Thursday by a passerby, and the stranding center, based in Brigantine, was contacted. He was described as acting “very lethargic” and in need of a major helping hand.
“When the team arrived, they found a listless Grey seal with a swollen rear flipper and patches of missing hair,” the center said in a social media post. “Despite several people crawling under the pier to access him, including three members of our Stranding team and two police officers, the seal barely lifted his head until our Stranding Coordinator Jay was upon him with the net.”
The seal was taken to Brigantine where he was placed in in the center’s intensive care unit, with a veterinarian determining he was suffering from an abscessed rear flipper and mild alopecia (hair loss) from a patchy molt. Treatment was started for his infection.
A seal stranded under Casino Pier in Seaside Heights. (Credit: Marine Mammal Stranding Center)
“We are happy to report that since starting supportive care and being rehydrated with fluids, he is much more alert and responsive, and has even started eating fish on his own,” the post said. “Thank you to the Seaside Heights Police Department for your assistance with this rescue!”
More details are included in the center’s posts, which are embedded with this story, but officials say he’ll likely stay at the stranding center until his wounds are healed, which can take six weeks or more in some cases.
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Editor’s Note: The Marine Mammal Stranding Center accepts donation through its website, as it can cost up to $3,000 to rehabilitate a seal. The MMSC has always been a nonprofit organization we’ve supported and endorsed.
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