Abandoned Harbor Seal Pup Saved from Long Island Tide, Nursed by Marine Mammal Foundation

On the coast of Atlantic Beach in Long Island, reports of an abandoned harbor seal pup trying to fight the tide prompted the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation to rescue the 3-day-old animal and treat it at their nearby marine mammal hospital. The AP reports that the seal was found with its umbilical cord "still attached."

While the pup's new caretakers cannot be sure how it was stranded, harbor seals "are wary of people while on land and will rush into the water if approached too closely or disturbed," explains the Marine Mammal Center. "In fact, if disturbed too often, they have been known to abandon favorite haul-out sites or their pups."

The species, which survives off of herring, octopus, squid, founder, sole, cod, scuplin, and hake, can be found on both the east and west coasts of North America. The harbor seal is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) asserts that the following threats still pose a persistent threat: chemical contaminants, power plant entrainment, ship strikes, oil spill exposure, fishing gear, and harassment by humans while hauled out on land.

Harbor seals have been known to live about 30 years, and mate every year. "After about four weeks [since their birth,] the pups are weaned," adds the NOAA.