Harp Seal Stranded at Berkeley Island Park Recuperating

The ailing male harp seal by residents and a technician Saturday from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center is on the mend.

"It takes a long time to recuperate these critters," said Robert Schoelkopf, director of the nonprofit center in Brigantine.

The brown and black, 162-pound male seal surfaced around the mouth of the Toms River and Barnegat Bay late last week. He even lumbered up on the boardwalk of Santo Marina in Bayville on Friday and drew a small crowd. But by Saturday, it was clear he was ill. Ralph and Paul Santo had kept watch on the seal, which had beached on the sand near Berkeley Island Park on Saturday. The seal lay half-in, half out of the water. From time to time, he tried to eat some sand.

"Generally when you see harp seals eat sand, it's not a good sign," Schoelkopf said. "They can get impacted by eating sand. We have him on a lot of fluids to try and flush his system out. We are still force feeding him. We're giving him mackerel, herring and capelin."

The seal also has a discolored lens in one eye, possibly a cataract.

"He can get along and still catch fish," Schoelkopf said.

It's not unusual to see harp seals in New Jersey waters and even farther south. But it is unusual to have so many adult harp seals at the center during this time of the year, he said.

"They all come down every winter from the northern waters," he said. "Right now we have a very large amount of harp seals. Part of the theory is that the ice pack they normally stay on is not as extensive as it once was. They are swimming out in the open water, all the way down to North Carolina."

Harp seals breed on the Newfoundland coast each year. The baby seals are born on the ice and have snowy white fur, often prized by hunters, according to the National Geographic's website at www.nationalgeographic.com.

Harp seals' home grounds are the Northern Atlantic and Arctic oceans. They spend little time on land and feed on fish and crustaceans. They have an average lifespan of 20 years and can grow up to 400 pounds, the website states.

 What's Schoelkopf's advice if you come upon a stricken seal?

"Don't touch it," he said.

Halley Martinez, the center's education coordinator, agrees. Touching a marine mammal is a violation of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

"It's definitely not a good idea," she said. "You can be fined or even incarcerated if you are caught having any contact with the animal. The bottom line is, they are wild and they can bite. If they are sick or injured, we don't want to stress them out anymore."

Seals also carry a variety of parasites and diseases that can be transmitted to humans, Martinez said.

Schoelkopf founded the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in 1978. The center is dedicated to the rescue and return of stranded or stressed marine mammals and sea turtles.

For more information on the center, call (609) 266-0538, or visit www.marinemammalstrandingcenter.org.