B98.5• March 4, 2025
The folks from the Marine Mammals of Maine organization found a little harp seal in distress along a Maine beach at the beginning of February. It had come in contact with some humans and some dogs and was stressed to the point of eating sand. Once the animal was feeling better, it was tagged with a special satellite identifier and released back out into the ocean. "Since February 10th, she has been traveling along the shelf in 39 degree Fahrenheit water. Seals can spend extensive periods of time at sea, eating, traveling, and resting without hauling out on land-while this kind of movement within her habitat is not unusual, it's still impressive to see on a map! We are so thrilled that she is strong enough to swim these distances, and that her unfortunate interaction with people and dogs last month did not prevent her from returning to the wild where she belongs." That one little seal has gone about 230 miles in the span of just a couple of weeks.