Seals on LBI rescued by Marine Mammal Stranding Center

According to Robert Schoelkopf, co-founding director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, located in Brigantine near Atlantic City, two, month-old male gray seals were rescued from Long Beach Island last week. Long Beach Township police called in the first seal, in North Beach, on Monday, Feb. 18. Two days later, a local volunteer who was looking for fish called in the second seal, which was found lying on the beach in Holgate. Both of the pups appeared to be malnourished.

Photo by Lia Stango

Two gray seals were rescued from LBI and taken to the 

Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, near Atlantic 
City, after staff determined the pups were malnourished.

As of Friday, Feb. 22, both of the seals were said to be “doing well,” though the seal found in Holgate had not yet mastered how to eat whole fish.“We have them both here,” said Schoelkopf. “Both young animals hadn’t learned how to eat on their own yet. Usually the mother will nurse them about 10 days, and then she leaves them, and they’re left alone to fend for themselves,” he added.

“It’ll be awhile before he starts doing that,” Schoelkopf noted.

February and March are the gray seals’ birthing season. Many young pups looking for their mothers and foraging for food are carried south by the currents. Several commonly wash ashore on LBI during this time of year. So far, no other seal sightings in the area have been reported.

“It’s been a fairly quiet year. We’re happy about that,” said Schoelkopf.

MMSC’s biggest concerns regarding beached marine mammals include wounds from human intervention, fishhooks, commercial fishing gear, and attacks by sharks, dogs and sea gulls.

“These things are more prevalent on these animals when they come in than pollutants. We haven’t worried about pollutants in the ocean for years with these animals,” Schoelkopf claimed.

The federal government, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act enacted in October 1972, protects all marine mammals. Anyone who approaches a marine mammal too closely and causes it to flee into the water can be fined for harassment.

“You’re also causing harm to the animal because he may be injured and you’re making him stress out even more,” Schoelkopf mentioned. “Or he may have just come in from swimming a long distance, and he’s trying to warm up and dry off.”

Pictures of the beached animals help MMSC staff determine whether or not they need to rescue the animals. Sightseers are expected to keep a distance of two bus-lengths away from the animals.

“We can tell from a distance whether the animal is, in fact, healthy, or just sleeping on the beach, or if it needs attention,” Schoelkopf explained.

Schoelkopf said he and his staff are not worried about potential side effects from Superstorm Sandy.

North Atlantic right whales, which migrate along the Atlantic coastline, can be spotted in New Jersey around this time, too. A cluster of five of them was spotted a week ago near the entrance of the Delaware Bay. Schoelkopf said they were simply eating and swimming.

To report a marine mammal sighting to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, call 609-266-0538. The hotline is available 24 hours a day. For additional information, visit http://www.marinemammalstrandingcenter.org/.

This article was published in The SandPaper.