The Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward has taken in the first stranded marine mammal of the year.
The one-week-old spotted seal pup was picked up on April 30th in Clarks Point and flown by Grant Aviation and PenAir to Anchorage. From there the pup was taken to the SeaLife Center in Seward.
The pup weighed in at 21-pounds and is currently being fed 5-times a day. The SeaLife is listing the seal pup in “good but guarded” condition. The pup is being cared for in the I.Sea.U. Critical care unit and the pup can been viewed by visitors to the SeaLife Center.
NOAA does not allow rehabilitated ice seals to be released back into the wild so the new pup will be cared for at the Alaska SeaLife Center until a long-term placement facility is identified.
The Center is the only permanent marine rehabilitation center in Alaska and it operates a 24-hour hotline to report stranded marine mammals. The hotline number is 1-888-774-SEAL.
Mike Mason is a reporter at KDLG in Dillingham.
