A kayaker attempting to rescue a newborn seal entangled in a mussel net suffered a bite to the arm from the pup’s mother on the Fourth of July, according to the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
Garry Heinrich, response coordinator for the stranding network, received a call shortly after noon on the holiday about a person being treated for a bite wound from a harbor seal. Danielle Magnuson, the wharf manager for the Port of Coupeville, said kayakers encountered the pup snagged in the net and contacted the stranding network. Since help was several hours away, the kayakers asked if they could try and save the young seal, which was in danger of drowning.
“The pup was a newborn, still had part of the umbilical cord attached,” Heinrich said. “They can’t swim for very long. Being caught in the net helped keep it afloat, but at some point it would have lost the ability to keep its head above water.”
As Magnuson explained, generally people who aren’t trained shouldn’t interact with wildlife, but these good Samaritans followed the right steps in the absence of professional rescuers and unfortunately got injured while doing so.
The Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network is a partnership between the Langley-based Orca Network, wildlife veterinarians and biologists and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.
Heinrich, who lives on South Whidbey, said it took some time for him to respond. He ended up catching a ride to the scene on a neighbor’s boat that was moored in Oak Harbor and arrived in Penn Cove around 2:30 p.m.
“I really feel that if we hadn’t got there to intervene, it would have drowned,” he said, noting that the baby seal had been thrashing around for hours at that point. The net, used for harvesting mussels by Penn Cove Shellfish, was wrapped around the pup’s neck and right foreflipper. No personnel were on site because of the holiday, but the manager of the business gave the rescuers the OK to cut through anything to free the seal.
It proved to be a challenging rescue because of the pup’s protective mother lingering nearby. To avoid getting bitten, the others on the boat distracted her while Heinrich worked to cut the net wrapped around her pup.
“He was looking at us like, ‘Thank you,’” Heinrich said. “This animal was exhausted.”
Both Heinrich and Magnuson said they had heard that the man who got bit was healing well after the encounter.
The pup was able to swim away with its mother that day.
“It was a happy ending there,” Magnuson said.
As Heinrich pointed out, it is currently pupping season for harbor seals, and the beaches of Whidbey provide nurseries for these newborns June through August. Mothers leave their pups on the beach but return to feed them only if left undisturbed by people. Many pups are too young to have developed a fear response, so they may not flee and even might approach a human. Getting too close to a harbor seal is a federal offense prohibited by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. People who feed, touch or harass a seal may be investigated by NOAA.
The stranding network advises people to stay 100 yards from a seal on the beach, and report if it appears to be injured. In Island County, call 949-233-2822 or 1-866-ORCANET (866-672-2638 and choose the STRANDING option).
