Lone baby seal seen wandering street in a New York town. But how did it get there?
A baby harbor seal was found all by itself wandering near a traffic circle in a town located on Long Island, New York.
Authorities were called to the seemingly lost seal flopping along the street in Riverside on Sunday, April 3, according to a Facebook post from Southampton police.
“How did he get there?” one user commented, while several others speculated why the seal was away from its natural habitat in the water.
One user suggested someone might’ve taken the seal from the beach and dumped it in the street, while another guessed “it escaped from the aquarium right across from the parking lot.”
It turns out the gray baby seal climbed up a fish ladder out of the nearby Peconic River “where he was likely foraging on fish,” the New York Marine Rescue Center wrote April 4 on Facebook.
“Gray seals are known to be explorers and often investigate the environment around them; even traversing several miles at a time.”
Police said they handed over the baby seal to the Riverhead Foundation. The foundation is home to the rescue center.
The center said the baby seal’s adventure into the roadway wasn’t “abnormal” since they’ve “previously responded to seals traveling far distances from the water.”
Most recently, a gray male seal was found “far from the ocean” exploring the woods and was rescued by the center.
The baby seal was assessed by biologists who said he was in “good health,” according to the center.
The organization reminded the public that seals are federally protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
“You must maintain a 150-foot distance.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Lone baby seal seen wandering street in a New York town. But how did it get there?."
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