Injured Seals Spotted at Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey - It's a familiar wintertime sight to anyone who knows the waters of Sandy Hook Bay: Harbor seals sunning themselves on Skeleton Hill Island. The tiny island — not much bigger than a sandbar — just off the Sandy Hook peninsula is a favorite winter haul-out spot for New York Harbor's growing seal population. As many as 100 seals can be seen there at a time.

But this December, there is just one problem: Two of the seals appear to be injured, said Bob Schoelkopf, founder and director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, which rescues marine mammals up and down the New Jersey coast.

"We were looking at photos of the seals an area resident had taken last week," said Schoelkopf on Tuesday. "And two of the seals look injured: One has a cut on the underside of its left front flipper and the other had fishing line wrapped around its neck."

The cut is the less serious of the two, he said; it could have come from the animal hauling itself out onto a jetty. But the fishing line could potentially develop into a life-threatening condition.

"The neck can start swelling and the seal will eventually be unable to eat food," he said.

That's why the Marine Mammal Stranding Center is asking anyone who sees a seal that looks injured or sick to please call them right away. The center has a 24-hour emergency number — (609) 266-0538 — or you can report it on their website: http://www.mmsc.org/strandings/report-a-stranding

Do not approach the seals on the island, he asks. Only call the Center if you come across a sick or injured seal that has come ashore on a beach.

"There is nothing we can do for them out on an island, because if anyone approaches them, they will scatter," he says. "But if they weaken and come up on a beach somewhere, please call us right away and we'll come and get it for evaluation and treatment."

The Sandy Hook beach is one of several harbor seal haul-outs along the northern Jersey Shore, Schoelkopf says. But he won't reveal where the others are. "They've been at Sandy Hook for years. But we don't want people getting up close and personal. The seals are there because people can't get to them. They want to rest. Once people start taking kayaks out to see them, they will move," he said.

The seals usually arrive to New Jersey in December from their breeding areas in northern New England, Arcadia and Nova Scotia. Seals sleep on land during the day and hunt at night. Sandbars are places for them to rest, relax and digest food.

The four-person staff of the Brigantine-based Marine Mammal Center rescues marine mammals from the 1,800 miles of New Jersey coast line. The saved a porpoise that got stuck in a Keansburg creek last spring and monitor New Jersey's humpback whale population. They're also the same group that tried to save a dolphin that got stuck in an Old Bridge river in 2015, but that animal sadly died.

They are a non-profit that subsists solely on donations: On Feb. 23, they will have an "Ales for Whales" fundraiser at Tuckahoe Brewery, with a beer and food tasting.

Related coverage:

100+ Seals Lounge on Sandy Hook Island

Photos of Porpoise Being Rescued from Keansburg Creek

Porpoise Rescued from Keansburg Creek, Led Back out to Atlantic Ocean

Dolphin In New Jersey River Dies

Photo: A 2015 photo of harbor seals at Skeleton Hill Island, taken by Matt Brescia of the Sandy Hook Maintenance Division.