(Seal Sitters photo: WDFW team arriving at Lincoln Park on Thursday)
Ian e-mailed us on Thursday to report encountering a Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network volunteer dealing with a dead seal on the beach at Lincoln Park. We contacted Seal Sitters to find out more, and heard back today from Lynn Shimamoto:
On Thursday morning, Seal Sitters hotline operator Gretchen received a report of a dead harbor seal south of Colman Pool. I found the body of a juvenile seal with no obvious signs of injury. I asked our stranding network partners at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife if they could perform a necropsy. Dyanna Lambourn and Steve Jeffries, both marine-mammal experts at WDFW, agreed to pick up the seal at Lincoln Park. Soon their boat was speeding toward me. They pulled up close to shore, took the seal, and whisked it away for examination at the lab.
Information we collect on this seal will be added to NOAA’s national database. By calling the Seal Sitters hotline at 206-905-SEAL to report a marine mammal on the beach – dead or alive – the public is helping to contribute to the scientific monitoring of this population.
That’s 206-905-7325 – especially if you frequently walk/ride along the shore, consider keeping it in your phone.
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