PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 23, 2023
Undeterred by the snow, a wayward gray seal spent Monday morning exploring Cape Elizabeth. A public works employee called police at 1:30 a.m. to report a seal scurrying through the neighborhood. Thus began a game of catch-and-release. The officer reported the seal to Marine Mammals of Maine. Lynda Doughty, executive director of MMM, said, ”Seeing no injuries or other causes for significant concern, the volunteer who assessed him on Sunday decided to leave him be in the yard, and he eventually returned to the water on his own.” But then he ventured into the road in the middle of the night. He was recaptured and brought to Fort Williams Park, where he was released back into the ocean. By 7 a.m., the seal was making its way down Shore Road. An officer and several citizens captured the seal and released it back into the ocean. He returned again and was taken to the ocean, but he came ashore once more. Marine Mammals of Maine decided to bring the seal to its rehab center in Brunswick.