Two newborn harbor seal pups found abandoned on a beach at Kasilof on the Kenai Peninsula in early June with their umbilical cords still attached are being treated at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward for malnutrition and dehydration.
ASLC officials said they had received a call on their 24-hour stranding hotline, 1-888-774-7325, of an abandoned skinny female harbor seal pup on June 2 and based on the pup’s emaciated body condition was preparing to pick her up when the original caller spotted a second seal pup, a male, on the same beach, also in poor body condition. After receiving approval from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials both pups were transported to ASLC for treatment.
The main concern of the veterinary team upon initial examination of the female pup was that she was malnourished, dehydrated, lethargic and an x-ray showed she had ingested rocks. The male pup was malnourished and dehydrated.
The veterinary team is providing initial stabilizing treatments and examining both seal pups further to understand the severity of their conditions,
The ASLC’s Wildlife Response Program is able to provide are for these animals because of donations from corporate sponsors and individual donors. Contributions are encouraged and may be sent online via alaskasealife.org/donate.
