OCEAN CITY — Two juvenile seals rescued from local beaches in the last month or so and admitted to the National Aquarium’s Animal Care Center are on the mend, but, sadly, a third perished this week.
In late March, the juvenile Harbor seal was rescued from the beach in Ocean City by the National Aquarium’s Animal Rescue team and is now receiving immediate medical care and long-term rehabilitation at the facility’s Animal Care and Rescue Center in Baltimore. The young seal has been 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 is breakfast foods and two other seals joined Marmalade shortly after she was admitted to the National Aquarium’s Animal Care and Rescue Center. Another young seal, now named Lox, was rescued from the beach at Assateague Island and is now receiving treatment and is on the mend.
When Lox was rescued, he was underweight, dehydrated and presented with difficulty breathing and several wounds. Lox has since received fluid therapy and antibiotics and is now eating on his own and his wounds are healing.
However, the outcome has not been good for another young seal rescued from the beach in Virginia Beach last month and admitted to the National Aquarium’s Animal Care and Rescue Center. The seal, named Latte in keeping with the same theme, had several wounds on her front and rear flippers and one of her eyes was cloudy.
Latte was receiving oral and IV fluids as well as antibiotics and appeared to be on the mend. This week, however, Latte died suddenly after an unexpected seizure event. A full necropsy was performed and early findings point to a congenital defect as the cause of the young seal’s death.
“This is a difficult reality of caring for rescued animals, especially for our devoted staff who provided extensive care to Latte,” said National Aquarium Public Relations Specialist Corrine Weaver. “While this is a hard ending to Latte’s journey, telling the compelling and real stories about the care of animals in part of our mission to inspire protection and love of our aquatic treasures.”
Meanwhile, Marmalade and Lox continue to improve under the watchful eye of aquarium staff and, at some point, will be released into the wild, likely in the same areas from which they were rescued. 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.
