Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Say hello to our new juvenile male harbor seal! 🎉 Just over a year old, the seal was previously in rehabilitation at the National Marine Life Center (NMLC) in Buzzards Bay, MA.
This young seal was rescued a total of three times in his short life. He was initially admitted to NMLC on May 27, 2020 after a well-meaning citizen collected him out of the water. After months of rehabilitation, he was released on September 2, 2020. Sadly, he was unable to thrive on his own and was readmitted to NMLC September 12, 2020 after several interactions with humans and dogs. A few weeks later, on October 15, 2020, he was again released. After nine days of monitoring, he was discovered to have become entangled in fishing gear. The International Fund for Animal Welfare's (ifaw) veterinarian removed the lure in the field and cleaned and rinsed the wound. The seal was again admitted to NMLC on October 24, 2020. Since he has habituated to being around humans, and not able to thrive on his own, he has been deemed non-releasable.
On Friday, June 11, our friends at Turtles Fly Too along with staff from the NMLC transported the seal to Norfolk, where Aquarium staff safely transported him to the Virginia Aquarium.
The seal will begin in quarantine (behind-the-scenes) away from the Aquarium’s other seals, Hector and Rudder. This quarantine is for the health and safety of Hector, Rudder, this seal, and our staff, and is a standard procedure when introducing a new animal to the Virginia Aquarium.
The Aquarium team is grateful to our partners at Marine Mammals of Maine, the International Fund for Animal Welfare Marine Mammal Rescue, the National Marine Life Center, Turtles Fly Too, and their pilot Richard for helping with this transport. As the seal acclimates to the Virginia Aquarium we’ll continue to share updates.
Say hello to our new juvenile male harbor seal! 🎉 Just over a year old, the seal was previously in rehabilitation at the National Marine Life Center (NMLC) in Buzzards Bay, MA.
This young seal was rescued a total of three times in his short life. He was initially admitted to NMLC on May 27, 2020 after a well-meaning citizen collected him out of the water. After months of rehabilitation, he was released on September 2, 2020. Sadly, he was unable to thrive on his own and was readmitted to NMLC September 12, 2020 after several interactions with humans and dogs. A few weeks later, on October 15, 2020, he was again released. After nine days of monitoring, he was discovered to have become entangled in fishing gear. The International Fund for Animal Welfare's (ifaw) veterinarian removed the lure in the field and cleaned and rinsed the wound. The seal was again admitted to NMLC on October 24, 2020. Since he has habituated to being around humans, and not able to thrive on his own, he has been deemed non-releasable.
On Friday, June 11, our friends at Turtles Fly Too along with staff from the NMLC transported the seal to Norfolk, where Aquarium staff safely transported him to the Virginia Aquarium.
The seal will begin in quarantine (behind-the-scenes) away from the Aquarium’s other seals, Hector and Rudder. This quarantine is for the health and safety of Hector, Rudder, this seal, and our staff, and is a standard procedure when introducing a new animal to the Virginia Aquarium.
The Aquarium team is grateful to our partners at Marine Mammals of Maine, the International Fund for Animal Welfare Marine Mammal Rescue, the National Marine Life Center, Turtles Fly Too, and their pilot Richard for helping with this transport. As the seal acclimates to the Virginia Aquarium we’ll continue to share updates.
