Seal Shows Beverly's Shoe Pond Some Puppy Love

BEVERLY, MA —Beverly's Shoe Pond has an unlikely new resident.

A seal has made the Cummings Center pond its new preferred swimming hole — at least temporarily — having been spotted swimming in the pond for a couple of days this week.

Beverly Animal Control Officer Matthew Lipinski said the police department is aware of the seal's presence and that residents should not call the police or the ACO to report the seal. Lipinski said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was contacted and recommended that the best course of action for the city is to "let the seal be."

"The seal does not appear to be in any type of distress and has the ability when it is ready to go back into the river," Lipinski said. "There is plenty of fish and water in Shoe Pond for the seal to hang out for a while."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)