Five harbor seal pups found stranded, malnourished and dehydrated on the Kenai Peninsula have been released back into the wild after being rehabilitated at the Alaska SeaLife Center.
ASLC officials said they were released together at Kenai North Beach on Aug. 27 from the center’s Wildlife Response Program.
A sixth harbor seal found stranded in Juneau was released into its area of geographic origin on Aug. 20.
All six were malnourished and dehydrated but had no other significant injuries. Before being released the seals had to show ability to hunt live fish.
While ASLC frequently rehabilitates and releases harbor seals from around Alaska it is rare to see this many animals returned to the wild at the same time and same area, said Jane Belovarac, wildlife response curator.
“This year’s pupping season was unique for our Wildlife Response Program,” she said. “Five seals came to us from different places in Cook Inlet over a short period. It worked out nicely that they met their milestones at the same time, allowing us to release all five on the same day, a first in our 20-plus year history of rehabilitating seal pups.”
The animals are released back into the area where they were found whenever possible in an effort to maximize chances of their survival, said Dr. Carrie Goertz, director of animal health.
The center’s wildlife response program is sponsored in part by ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum Corp., BP, PetZoo, Partners4Wildlife, HDR Marine, Sea Otter Foundation, Grizzly Pet Products and the Borman Family Foundation.
More information about the center is at alaskasealife.org.
