Residents called police after the seal was seen wandering in a parking lot on Long Island, police sergeant Jim Cavana told CNN. The seal headed for the entrance of a nearby hotel before being restricted to traffic, Cavanaugh said.
“What we believe to have happened is that the seal swam in the Potomac River, probably behind a large herd of foxes,” Cavanagh explained. “The seal probably climbed out of the river ending up in a park. There, it probably just turned around and then traveled somewhere between 500 and 700 feet in the traffic circle.”
The New York Marine Resource Center sent a team to help recover the seal and was taken to a recovery center in Riverhead, Rescue Center Program Director Maxine Model told CNN.
“The animal is in good condition,” said Modelo. “We just think he wandered a little too far from the beach. Hopefully we can get him back to the beach as soon as possible.”
Montello said cases like this are unusual but not unprecedented. A seal was recently found under someone’s car and another was found in a Staten Island yard several years ago, he said.
Port seals usually appear to rest on rocks and beaches along the coast and spend their time looking for fish, shellfish and crustaceans, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Modelo noted that we are entering the “seal era”, when seals and humans use the beaches of Long Island at the same time, and calls to the rescue telephone line increase.
Seals are federally protected by the Marine Mammal Act and experts say humans should keep a minimum distance of 150 feet from animals.
