January 18, 2024

Stranded seal pup rescued from Point Pleasant Beach sidewalk

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center said the baby animal is in 'guarded condition' and not yet eating on her own

By Kristin Hunt
PhillyVoice Staff

@marinemammal/Facebook

A baby seal was found on Baltimore Avenue in Point Pleasant Beach last week. She is now recovering in intensive care at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, New Jersey.

A baby grey seal found on a Point Pleasant Beach sidewalk last week is recovering in the Marine Mammal Stranding Center's intensive care unit, the wildlife rescue said.

The female pup was initially spotted Friday night near the beach on Baltimore Avenue. MMSC staffers believe she was displaced by a coastal storm, which flooded the barriers around Lake Louise. After a jogger reported the stranded seal, Point Pleasant Beach police stayed with the pup until MMSC staff arrived from Brigantine and transported her back to the center.

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The seal was admitted to intensive care Saturday around 1:30 a.m. Over the past six days, staff has administered formula and an electrolyte solution to the pup via a feeding tube and helped her eat fish, as she is not yet eating on her own. At only 27.4 pounds, the pup is considered "very thin" and likely four weeks old, since she still has some of the white fur with which seals are born.

"Currently the pup is in guarded condition, and we will know more about her prognosis in the days ahead," the MMSC wrote on its website and Facebook page.

A spokesperson for the MMSC offered no updates Thursday afternoon but said any news would be shared on social media.

The pup joins another young grey seal admitted just hours before her rescue. The male pup, also believed to be 4-5 weeks old, was discovered Jan. 11 in North Jersey and taken to the center after remaining on the beach through dawn the following day. He is now eating on his own after a similar regimen of fluids and fish.

The center's only other patient is the male harbor seal rescued from Long Beach Island on Christmas after a likely shark attack. MMSC said the seal was doing "really well" in a video update shared last week, which shows him resting and bouncing on a mat.