Sick and dehydrated Harp seal rescued from Brant Beach in Long Beach Island

LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (WABC) -- The Marine Mammal Stranding Center rescued a harp seal on March 8 after it was found sick and dehydrated on Branch Beach in Ocean County, New Jersey.

MMSC received a call on March 7 that a large adult male Harp seal hauled out on Brant Beach on Long Beach Island.

The MMSC staff and local certified Stranding Volunteers observed the seal's behavior for 24 hours.

When the seal did not move the following morning and appeared to have eaten sand, a sign that the seal was sick and dehydrated, two MMSC staff members along with volunteers and the Long Beach Township Department of Public Works, loaded the seal into a truck and took him to MMDC.

As an Arctic species, Harp seals often consume snow and ice for fresh water. When they haul out on beaches, sick, dehydrated, and stressed Harp seals may start eating sand, confusing it for snow.

The seal immediately received care from the hospital, including rehydration and treatment to flush the sand from his system.

He is now resting comfortably in the intensive care unit and has already consumed piles of ice and started eating fish on his own.

The seals are named for the dark harp-shaped pattern on their back that forms in their adult coat.