(Photo by Steve Bender)
When Steve Bender sent that photo of a harbor seal, wondering about what looked like a red cap, we didn’t have a quick explanation – we’d never seen that before. So first we went to Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network. SSMNSN’s David Hutchinson recognized the “red cap” as a tag placed by their partners at SR3 when rehabilitating a seal – so the rest of the story comes from SR3’s executive director Casey Maclean.
First, if you’re not familiar with SR3, they’re a nonprofit based in Des Moines, where they have a marine-mammal rehab hospital; their name is short for Sealife Response, Rehabilitation, and Research. Casey told us, for starters, “The red dot on the seal’s head is a tag that helps SR3 animal-care staff identify them while they are in rehabilitation.” After talking with Steve about where he saw this particular seal, Casey was able to tell us more about her:
This young, recently weaned pup was found on 11/8 on the Don Armeni boat ramp and reported to the local stranding network, Seal Sitters.
(Photo from David Hutchinson, before seal was taken to SR3 for rehab)
They monitored the pup over the next 24 hours to assess the pup’s condition, and when she was still there the next day, Seal Sitters reached out to SR3 for further medical assessment. Together the groups determined it was in the pup’s best interest to be taken into SR3’s marine mammal rehabilitation hospital in Des Moines. This pup was SR3’s 48th patient in 2022.
She was in thin body condition, dehydrated, had a wound with some associated swelling and pneumonia. Despite her various health issues, she quickly improved under SR3’s care, and 67 days later she was once again swimming free. Patients are released within 30 miles of where they were found and you can help monitor patients post release! While in rehabilitation, SR3 places a small colored dot on their head to help identify individuals; with several patients in one pool it is critical to make sure everyone gets the proper treatments. The tags are glued on to their fur and will come off when they molt, which they do once a year. By reporting any sightings of seals with “dots” on their heads, you can help us learn more about their survival post-release, photos appreciated! Each patient will also have an orange flipper tag that is placed between the webbing of one of their rear flippers; these tags are permanent so that if they should be found again, we know their medical history.
Please remember that we are fortunate to share our shores with incredible marine wildlife and sometimes they just need to rest. If you are concerned about a marine mammal, please report it to Seal Sitters, 206-905-7325 – responders are available 7 days a week.
And if you see a “dotted” seal that’s not otherwise a reason for concern – happily swimming, for example, you can report the sighting to (corrected) the Seal Sitters hotline too.
SIDE NOTE: This seal has two names because of the SR3 and Seal Sitters involvement in caring for it. Seal Sitters called her “Lady Marmalade“; SR3 named her “Spaghetti.” David from SSMMSN explains, “Seal Sitters has a long tradition of naming the pups we watch over. Usually they are named by the first responder or possibly the reporting party. SR3 uses a theme for names during the season, with this year’s theme being space objects. Spaghetti is the name of a nebula.”
.
| 11 COMMENTS