A prematurely born harbor seal pup was rescued earlier this month from a beach near Kenai.
The male pup was found without its mother in sight, and according to a press release from the Alaska SeaLife Center, staff estimate the pup was likely born the day he was rescued. He’s now being monitored and fed by wildlife response staff.
Premature harbor seal pups have only a 50-50 chance of survival when treated, according to the press release. Another premature born harbor seal pup rescued in April did not survive.
But the center’s wildlife response curator, Jane Belovarac, says this pup’s recovery is promising.
“He's been reaching his milestones," Belovarac said. "He's swimming well on his own. We're working on getting him into colder water, and we're weaning him off the formula already and trying to get him onto fish.”
Young harbor seals typically don’t require a lot of care from their mothers and learn how to hunt by the time they’re a few months old.
Belovarac says learning in captivity will require specialized training.
“We're giving him some tools to play with while he's swimming to hopefully encourage him to catch on to catching fish quicker, and to perfect his technique when it comes to catching fish,” Belovarac said.
SeaLife Center staff are planning to release the harbor seal pup back into the wild by the end of the summer.
The harbor seal joins a northern sea otter pup that was rescued from a beach in Homer just a few weeks ago.
To report a stranded or injured marine mammal in Alaska, call the 24-hour Stranded Marine Animal Hotline at 1-888-774-7325.
