An orphan harbor seal found near Egegik is progressing well. The seal was found at the end of June and was very dehydrated and underweight.
She also had an infection at her umbilical cord site. The seal’s mother was found dying on the beach.
Hallee Warner, an animal care specialist with the Alaska Sealife Center, said the seal will eventually be released.
“Going forward our ultimate goal is always to release harbor seals whenever we possibly can,” Warner said. “We’re going to keep giving her the nutrition that she needs, any medications that she needs to overcome infections or any other problems she may have that we don’t know about yet. And once she grows stronger and is able to eat fish on her own we’ll start socializing her with other seals in preparation for release.”
The seal will soon be old enough to survive in the wild without her mother, Warner said.
“They actually wean from their mother at four to six weeks of age so she actually is near that age already,” Warner said. “We’re going to start weaning her in probably a couple weeks’ time. Once she starts putting on enough weight and becomes healthy, is clear of her infections, then we can start thinking about releasing her. Usually it’s at the end of the summer that we release the seals.”
The Sea Life Center maintains a 24-hour hotline for calls about marine mammals found in distress.
