Wayward Seal Finds Its Way Home After Hours On Land In Stamford

STAMFORD, CT — Cove Island Park had an interesting visitor Thursday in the form of a young seal from Long Island Sound who eventually found its way home with a little guidance and protection from police and wildlife enthusiasts.

The animal rescue program at Mystic Aquarium received word of a seal at the park Thursday around 1:15 p.m. from Stamford Animal Control, according to Alexandra Cojocaru, an animal rescue technician with the program.

Cojacaru received photos and videos of the seal from the animal control officers.

"It was a young little Grey seal weanling who was a little on the thin side, but super alert and active, just kind of bopping around the whole park and resting intermittently," Cojacaru said. "We didn't necessarily want to move in right away, so we had our volunteer (Lisa Jarosik) go and monitor him."

Stamford resident, wildlife photographer and aspiring volunteer wildlife rescuer Mike Nastri frequents Cove Island Park and happened to be there Thursday afternoon, too.

Nastri became aware that a young seal had been spotted in the park from Jarosik, and he headed toward the seal's location where he saw Stamford Animal Control responding.

Later on, Stamford Police Park Officer Peter Gould, who begins his shifts at 6 p.m., was advised of the seal situation and that it was being handled.

A former volunteer CT wildlife rehabilitator, Gould decided to check it out anyway, he said.

Animal Control left since nothing else could be done, and so did Jarosik.

Nastri remained for about two hours making sure parkgoers steered clear of the lost seal. He estimated the seal traveled about 150 yards back toward the water.

Gould arrived at the park a little after 7 p.m., and Nastri had to leave to run an errand. Before he knew it, Gould was alone with the seal as snow began to fall. Nastri returned a short time later.

"That little guy didn't seem afraid of me at all. He had no fear of people... The seal started going toward my car, and I didn't want the seal to decide it wanted the warmth under the car," Gould said, explaining that he moved his car onto the beach in front of the water.

"When he got in sight of the water, then he didn't care about the car anymore. Then he just made for Long Island Sound," Gould said.

After about two hours of stops and starts, the seal made it to the water's edge and swam away. Gould was taken back to his days of caring for injured, orphaned or stranded wildlife.

Stamford police posted a brief video of the seal's journey from land to sea on its Facebook page. To view the full video, click here.

"It's an awesome experience. You don't generally get an opportunity to be that close to one of our marine mammals," Gould said. "You've got to figure out how to communicate the direction to go. To watch that lightbulb go on in his head and be able to influence him directly so he can help himself as opposed to direct human intervention, it's a fabulous experience."

Gould added it's against federal law and "just not a good idea" to make contact with a marine mammal, so it was best to let the animal figure out how to go home.

Nastri said he has seen dolphins out in Long Island Sound during the summer, but this was a whole different animal, figuratively and literally.

"It was shocking," he said. "I'm always out on the water anyways, but to see a seal is incredible."

According to the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (CT-DEEP), Long Island Sound is home to four species of seals including Harbor, Harp, Hooded and Grey seals.

Cojacaru said Grey seal pups are usually born in December/January, and they're only with their mothers for about four weeks or so, at which point they're on their own.

"It was pretty normal to see that little guy alone. After they're done with mom, it's all up to them to figure out life on their own so they tend to lose a little bit of that weight they gained from their mother's milk," Cojacaru said. "But it was great to see him so active and being so alert in the park yesterday."

A volunteer was sent back to Cove Island Park Friday morning to see if the seal returned, but so far there haven't been any sightings.

"We always keep a real close eye and ear on the area," Cojacaru added. "We'll continue to stay vigilant and keep an eye on the area over there. If anyone sees another seal holed up anywhere, the best thing to do is to kind of leave them alone and give us or local animal control a call and they can always reach out to us."

Gould joined the Stamford Police Department in 1979 and became a park police officer in 1981.

"I am in year 45 here, and this is a first for me. We do have seals in the Sound, and if you stand at the shoreline with binoculars especially in the summer at low tide when those offshore rocks become visible, you can often see seals up on the rocks sunning themselves. They will not stray out of the water with people around, so they don't come up on shore as a rule," Gould said.

"If you get an adventurous young one that hasn't learned the rules yet, you end up with this."

To report marine animal sightings or strandings along the Connecticut coast, contact the Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Program Hotline at 860-572-5955 ext. 107.

Click here for more of Nastri's wildlife photography on Instagram.