Young Seal Dies Following Rescue From Ocean City Streets

OCEAN CITY, NJ — A young seal that was rescued after taking a stroll down the streets of Ocean City died Monday night, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center announced.

The pup, only a few weeks old, was rescued on Feb. 7 after residents saw him having a close call with a car. Read more: Seal Pup Rescued After Strolling Down Ocean City's Streets

Since his rescue, the underweight Grey seal pup had been cared for through assist feeding fish and tube feeding, while undergoing treatment for parasites and a possible respiratory infection, stranding center staff said.

"We were hopeful when the pup began showing more interest in food last week, even starting to eat smaller fish on his own in recent days," staff said.

Unfortunately, during the evening of Feb. 19, the seal "showed a very sudden and rapid decline, and despite the extraordinary efforts by our staff to resuscitate him, the pup passed away only a few minutes later," staff said.

A full necropsy will be performed to find out why he went down so quickly.

"This is always the hardest part of animal rescue," the stranding center said. "While we know we can't save them all, every loss still hurts."

They thanked their staff and vet, Dr. Hubert Paluch, who did "everything possible" to save the seal.

"We also want to thank the residents of Ocean City and everyone who rallied around this little seal, we know that you are hurting as much as we are today," the stranding center said.