When a storm hits land, they can sometimes cause a lot of damage. Areas can become flooded and debris can be thrown all over the place. It’s pretty typical to see large amounts of trash left on the side of the road in the wake of the storm, as well. Keep reading to find how this “pile of trash” turned out to be something so much more.A large storm just swept through the New England coast, so at first they thought it was just a large pile of trash. But when they got closer, they noticed that the pile of trash was actually alive!
A police officer immediately showed up at the scene to wait for rescue members of Seacoast Science Center to arrive. Once they got there, they were able to safely move the seal to a nearby parking lot.
“The seal more than likely came up with the extremely high flood tide around 2 a.m., as a result of the storm. Once he was up there, he likely realized pretty quickly that it was a more desirable spot than being battered by the high surf, and stayed put. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that it was not a good spot for him to be in,” said rescue manager at Seacoast Science Center, Ashley Stokes.
“We were able to immediately determine that he was not ‘himself’ when we first arrived on scene. Gray seal weanlings should be very aggressive when approached. But this little one allowed us to get right beside him and move him into the kennel, with no fight at all,” explained Stokes.
The rescue team immediately brought the seal to National Marine Life Center, where he was given the name Saco, after the long river that runs from New Hampshire to Maine.
“We quickly realized that his blood sugar was extremely low and he was critically dehydrated. Luckily, X-rays did not reveal any serious injuries, so the big priorities now are to get his blood sugar and hydration level back to normal, and then get him to start eating fish on his own again,” explained Stokes.
Instead of being a passive little guy, Saco has no problem vocalizing himself, or showing a bit more attitude to his caregivers, which is good news. “This little guy is a fighter, but he still has a long way to go,” wrote the National Marine Life Center on Facebook. Hopefully this beautiful guy can find his way back to the ocean very soon!
