Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 3, 1994 TAG: 9402030196
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY REID BARROW STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
That passive, appealing look was deceiving. When an employee reached in the tank to add a ledge on which the male seal could haul himself out of the water, the animal growled and went for his hand.
Less than 12 hours earlier, the far-ranging seal had been rescued from the beach at 23rd Street where it was lying on the sand above the high tide line. Museum stranding team volunteer coordinator Don Meyer was awakened by a call from the museum shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, alerting him to the stranded seal.
Meyer joined three stranding team members on the beach. Less than 90 minutes after the call, they had wrapped the seal in a blanket and driven it to the museum.
M.W. "Tookie" Myers, the stranding team's volunteer veterinarian, was treating it by 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The little seal, less than a year old, has abrasions on its hind flippers and lower back, and its back appears to be stiff. It may have a respiratory infection, too.
Myers treated the animal with antibiotics and intravenous fluids. Blood samples were taken and sent out for laboratory analysis, Meyer said.
Seals are native to New England and Canadian waters. However, harbor seals, many of them youngsters, occasionally range this far south in winter. They have been seen resting on the rock islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, on Lynnhaven River piers and even on the beach.
A healthy seal will head for the water if it's approached. But don't try to help a sick or injured one, said Meyer. Call the museum for help.
"They're cute, but, hey, this is a wild animal," he said. "Don't put your arms or hands close to its mouth."
The museum's 150 stranding team members have been trained to handle various marine mammals and sea turtles that wash up on Virginia's beaches. Meyer recalls participating in at least one seal rescue in each of the past two years.
Meyer said the seal was in better shape than most seals that strand here. "Very seldom do we get one alive and frisky like this," he said.
Decisions on when and if the seal will be sent to another facility for long-term rehabilitation will be made this week.
"I hope everything turns out well," Meyer said. "He's so young, his teeth are just starting to come in. You wonder what the last 24 to 48 hours have been for a creature like that."
by CNB