BELLINGHAM, Wash. (KOMO) – A seal pup found in a Washington tidal basin is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.
Casey McLean, executive director and veterinary nurse with Sealife Response, Rehab and Research, or SR3, said the harbor seal is now on the way to recovery.
“Doing an exam, we discovered a head wound,” McLean said.
Rescued at just 3 weeks old, the pup was found at Smith Gardens tidal flats in Bellingham.
“We took X-rays to see what was going on there and discovered that this animal had been shot,” McLean said.
SR3, the marine rehab facility taking care of the pup, said that, all things considered, the seal is stable.
It is not clear who is responsible for shooting the animal.
It is not clear who is responsible for shooting the animal.
SR3 said that before this case, two adult harbor seals were found with gunshot wounds to the head. One was rescued in the Hood Canal area and the other in Quilcene.
Sadly, both of those seals died.
“We have seen lots of animals that wash up deceased, often where we discovered they had been shot. However, what is new is to see these animals that are surviving the gunshot and coming in and suffering, which is very unfortunate and, frankly, disturbing,” McLean said.
SR3 believes the violence is likely due to inaccurate information that seals are eating all the salmon in the area, but they are known to eat more than 60 species of sea creatures.
“There have been some researchers that have said even if we take out every seal and sea lion, we still will not recover the salmon because of the environmental factors that humans have placed on them,” McLean added.
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