Rehabbed Seal Set Free In Ocean City

Rehabbed Seal Set Free In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY — With a big crowd watching, a fully-rehabbed male juvenile harbor seal reluctantly peaked out of his temporary cage on the beach at 40th Street on Thursday morning and then made a beeline straight to his ocean home.

On a picture-perfect Thursday morning in June, “Marmalade” was released from the beach at 40th Street on Thursday after completing a rigorous rehabilitation for the last two-months-plus at the National Aquarium’s Animal Care and Rescue Center in Baltimore. On March 24, the juvenile harbor seal was rescued from the beach in Ocean City by the aquarium’s animal rescue team and began receiving immediate medical care and long-term rehabilitation.

With that process complete, Marmalade was brought to the beach on Thursday for his re-release back into the wild. Hundreds of onlookers, including local and state dignitaries and aquarium staff gathered around a wide parameter as the seal’s crate was unloaded from an aquarium SUV. When Mayor Rich Meehan lifted the gate to the crate, Marmalade briefly looked out at the big crowd and was a little reluctant to go onto the beach.

After a couple of minutes, however, the vast expanse of crystal blue ocean sparkling with morning sunshine was too tempting and Marmalade quickly bounded down the beach and into the water as the big crowd cheered. The juvenile harbor seal entered the ocean and was last seen bobbing and playing in the waves before disappearing.

Each winter, migrating seals of various species and sizes pass through the mid-Atlantic region as part of their normal migratory patterns and more than a few haul out on the beaches in and around Ocean City and Assateague. Many are simply resting or sunning themselves along their journey, while others are ill or injured.

In Marmalade’s case, the juvenile Harbor seal had multiple illnesses and injuries. When Marmalade was rescued after stranding on the beach in Ocean City, he presented with labored breathing, lacerations on his body and pneumonia. Marmalade is also battling seal pox on his left front flipper, an uncomfortable ailment which is also contagious to other seals.

As a result, Marmalade received daily care from the Animal Rescue team and National Aquarium veterinarians over the last eight weeks or so at the facility in Baltimore, during which he received IV fluids, antibiotics and treatment for his various injuries. As he stabilized and his condition improved, his activity and caloric intake increased. During his rehab at the aquarium, Marmalade was eating up to seven pounds of fish daily.

The young seal was named Marmalade in keeping with the aquarium’s policy each year of naming rescued seals, sea turtles and other creatures with a theme. This year’s theme was breakfast foods.

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.