Alright, so like, six seals were totally let back into the ocean by the Mystic Aquarium on Wednesday. People were all gathered on a beach in Rhode Island to watch these seals go back to their natural habitat after getting all tangled up in fishing gear. The Mystic Aquarium has been taking care of these seals for almost two months, helping them recover and get back on their flippers.
The seals were found on Block Island, caught up in fishing gear and marine debris between March and April. The whole release happened at Wuskenau Town Beach in Westerly, and volunteers and officers from the New Haven Police Department were there to make sure the seals made it back into the water safely. The Mystic Aquarium has been seeing more and more seals getting caught in fishing gear lately, which is a big problem as the seal population in New England keeps growing.
The Animal Rescue Program at the Mystic Aquarium has already rescued and rehabilitated 24 seals this year, and they think that number is only going to go up. The cost of taking care of each seal is over $10,000, and they also need funds for research items like satellite tags and acoustic tags. Only two of the seals released on Wednesday were fitted with satellite tags because of funding cuts. The tags help researchers track the seals’ movements and study how they interact with the environment. The aquarium is asking for donations to keep doing this important work.
