Monmouth Beach seal pup shimmies back to water at secret spot for 'second chance'

Dan Radel, Asbury Park Press
·2 min read

A female harbor seal pup that was found injured at Monmouth Beach in December, was released back to the wild after being treated by the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

The seal was released on an undisclosed back bay beach. In a video posted to the center's social media, the seal took less than a minute to leave a carrier cage and shimmy down on its belly to the water and dive in. The center said harbor seals get their name from their tendency to seek out the protection of bays, estuaries and inlets, so they "found her the perfect place to start her second chance in the wild."

Before she was released though, she was tagged No. 43 on her right rear flipper for future identification. She was the center's first seal stranding release of the season.

The pinniped was found stranded on a beach Dec. 28, 2022, wheezing and suffering from a laceration on her right side. The center said the seal is a yearling that was most likely born last spring. She weighed 42 pounds when she was admitted to the center's intensive care unit. However, when she was released she weighed 74 pounds, thanks to a steady diet of herring, which she ate nine pounds of a day.

A harbor seal pup that was rescued at Monmouth Beach is seen moments after it was returned to the wild on Feb. 6, following treatment at Marine Mammal Stranding Center for a respiratory illness and a laceration.
A harbor seal pup that was rescued at Monmouth Beach is seen moments after it was returned to the wild on Feb. 6, following treatment at Marine Mammal Stranding Center for a respiratory illness and a laceration.

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It took a month for her respiratory issues to clear up and for the laceration to heal. By the end of January, she advanced to the pool in order to build up her strength for life back in the ocean.

Recognizable by their heart-shaped nostrils and curved, banana-shaped resting position, harbor seals are fairly common to New Jersey during the winter. On the East Coast, they are found from the Canadian Arctic to as far south as the Carolinas, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

They weigh about 25 pounds at birth and grow up to 285 pounds, six feet in length and live up to 30 years.

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By federal law, as laid out in the Marine Mammal Protection Act, people must stay 50 yards away from seals. The center, which has rescued its fair share of injured seals, advises people not to disclose the location of seals on social media to keep crowds of people away.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth Beach NJ seal pup treated at Brigantine returned to the wild