Another early-morning seal

Calls reporting a seal pup at Constellation Park came to the Seal Sitters hotline early in the morning on September 2. First Responder Dori had only a few minutes to assess the harbor seal sleeping on the rocky beach below. As Dori reported:

“A wake splashed the pup, who decided that they were having none of it and hauled further away from the water as far as they could go, settling in at the base of the seawall. Pup was no longer visible from the sidewalk.”

Those few minutes were enough to see that the male pup was very young and thin. “Splish” had an open umbilicus, indicating he was less than ten days old. Harbor seal pups nurse for 4 - 6 weeks; Splish should have been fat on his mother’s milk, but he weighed a mere 20 pounds.

Volunteers arrived to watch over Splish as the tide was turning and his stretch of cobble became accessible to beach walkers. Seal Sitters stranding network partner SR3 decided to capture the pup and take him to SR3’s marine mammal hospital in Des Moines.

“Splish” being transported from beach for treatment by SR3. Net was used solely for safe capture by responders.

SR3’s veterinary team reports that Splish is responding well to treatment.  Thank you to SR3 and to Seal Sitters Abigail, Dori, Kristen K, Monique, Karin and David.