Around 70 harp seals have been stranded in Maine since the beginning of the year, according to rescue organization Marine Mammals of Maine.
Executive director Lynda Doughty says that’s about eight times the typical number.
“Most of the seals that we’ve really responded to have been really dehydrated,” she says.
Doughty says it’s important for humans to keep their distance to avoid causing further harm to the seals, who will, as she puts it, “stress eat.”
“Essentially start to eat anything in front of them. So in some cases these animals may be on a sandy beach or rocky beach, and they start to ingest sand and rocks,” she says.
Doughty says a necropsy on one seal found five pounds of sand and rocks in its stomach.
The cause of the seals’ dehydration is unclear. The current stranding is different from a mortality event last summer, when hundreds of harbor seals were stranded or washed ashore due to distemper.
