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From the November 10, 2002 Press Of Atlantic City
Ocean County Edition

BEACH HAVEN FISHERMEN AID WOUNDED SEAL
By: Katia Raina

He lay on the wet sand, seeming to gasp for air. The crowd of passers-by could only judge how hurt he really was by the depth of the wound on his back and the desperate expression in his eyes. He was a young wounded harbor seal, washed up at the 9th Street beach Saturday morning.

Edward Balloutine, a vacationer, was fishing when he saw the creature. "I've never seen them here before," said Balloutine, who said he often visits here from Passaic County. "He first popped up here (on the 9th Street beach). He came up on the sand, then he saw us and I guess he wanted to be back in the water. He looked like he was shivering or something." "I thought it was a fish," said another fisherman, Greg Meyer, who is a summer resident of Beach Haven. "He looked like he wanted to come ashore. But when he saw us, he got scared and went back into the water."

Did a boat's motor hurt him? Was it a personal watercraft or a fishing net? Fishermen, autumn vacationers and residents gathered, trying to figure out what had happened. Somebody called the local police, and personnel from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center soon arrived to help the animal. Just a few hours later, the seal was resting comfortably in a special isolated pool in Brigantine, where the center is based. The seal's injuries are shark bites, center Director Bob Schoelkopf said.

The wounded animal, estimated at about 6 months old, received electrolytes through a tube, Schoelkopf said, because he was dehydrated. Seals aren't an uncommon sight on New Jersey's shore, although they seem to be more common further north, in places like New England. In fact, this seal is now in the company of two other seals at the center - one seal from Long Branch and the other from somewhere in Monmouth County, Schoelkopf said. One is also recovering from shark bites and the other had a respiratory problem.

"We've handled up to 90 seals in the winter," Schoelkopf said. "This one is early, though. The seals usually don't start showing up on Long Beach Island until December or January." Typically, these migratory creatures swim away from the area in the summer, because they need cooler water to thrive, but they come back in the winter. It is more common for these animals to be hurt by certain fishing gear than by sharks, Schoelkopf said.

Some environmentalists say the harbor seal species is in danger of extinction because they feed on coastal fish and shellfish and increasingly have had trouble competing for prey with commercial fishermen.

Long Beach Island well-wishers who would like to visit the Stranding Center's latest patient cannot come in and peek just yet, Schoelkopf said. But, hopefully, in a week or so, they can, he added.

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