You’re at the beach. You find a seal. What do you do? Some answers from ACRC.
(Part Five of Five)
The Coast (WHTM) You’re spending a day at the beach, swimming, sunbathing, strolling, looking for shells, or just plain relaxing.
Suddenly you realize there’s a seal on the beach.
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“People are seeing them more frequently on the beach, which is exciting,” says Margot Madden, senior rehabilitation biologist at the National Aquarium’s Animal Care and Rescue Center in Baltimore. “So we encourage people to enjoy that encounter since it is pretty unique.”
But why is it there? Is it stranded? Is it sick? Is it injured? Or is it just resting? What should you do? Madden says the first thing you should do is keep back.
Inside the National Aquarium Animal Care and Rescue Center
“We do ask that people remember that they are federally protected, and maintaining a good distance, usually suggested about 150 feet away.”
That’s about three school buses parked end to end. It’s a recommendation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose duties include protecting marine life. (The National Aquarium conducts its rescue operations under a NOAA permit.)
National Aquarium Animal Care & Rescue Center – new arrivals
Seals are semi-aquatic, and DO come ashore to rest. If a seal reacts to your presence in any way, you’re too close. If you have a dog, keep it leashed. If the dog (or you, for that matter) gets too close, the seal might feel threatened and defend itself. (The NOAA website rather drolly notes that “Seals have powerful jaws, and can leave a lasting impression.”)
If the seal is a pup, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s orphaned. A mama seal will sometimes leave her pup on the beach while she feeds. That makes it even more important for humans to keep away. If Mama Seal comes back to find her baby surrounded by two-legged monsters, she might abandon it.
Saving seals at the Animal Care and Rescue Center
Unless there’s some obvious injury, it’s hard to tell if a seal is in distress. Margot Madden says this is the time to make a phone call.
“We do encourage the public to call our stranding hotline, which is found on our website. We’ll be able to provide our staff acknowledgment that we have an animal on the beach. Healthy or not, it’s good data for us to collect.”
Saving sea turtles at the Animal Care and Rescue Center
If the data you provide says the seal needs help, the center will send a team to take a closer look, and if necessary bring it in for treatment. The National Aquarium recently opened a Stranding Response Center in Ocean City, Maryland, which can cut the response time to a stranding by hours.
The seal will stay at ACRC for however long it takes to treat its illnesses or injuries. Once it fully recovers, the seal will be taken back to the beach, and returned to its life in the wild.
(The ACRC Stranded Animal Hotline is 410-576-3880. They cover strandings in Maryland. NOAA has a page on its website, showing what organizations handle stranded marine animals in other parts of the country. You can view it here.)
For guidelines on viewing marine wildlife, click here.
To learn more about ACRC rescue work, click here
To learn more about the Ocean City stranding facility, click here.
To view Part 1 of this series, click here.
To view Part 2 of this series, click here.
To view Part 3 of this series, click here.
To view Part 4 of this series, click here.
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