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This Month’s Contents:
Blue Ocean
Society News | Rare Ice Seal Rescued
Upcoming Events
| Be Simply Green
| Conservation Tip of the Month
Blue Ocean Society News
Greetings! This has been an exciting month. We had a hugely
successful Open House on April 11, and got to chat and network with
about 100 volunteers, colleagues and new friends as they toured our
office. We also had the biggest Earth Day Cleanup ever – with close
to 200 volunteers showing up to clean Peirce Island in Portsmouth!
Thanks again to our event sponsors and partners - the New Hampshire
Coastal Program, Portsmouth Flatbread Company, Starbucks Coffee,
City Year New Hampshire, the City of Portsmouth, and Bates College
Alumni. During the cleanup, we collected 33 bags of trash, which
weighed 673 pounds!
Speaking of sponsors, we are also excited
to announce our 2007 Year of the Dolphin Sponsor, Leo Gagnon,
Strategic Real Estate Advisor with
Keller
Williams Realty. Thank you for your support!
Our beach cleanup program continues to grow, and we’re looking
forward to conducting several cleanups with schools before the end
of the school year. We’ll also be presenting our inflatable whale
and Traveling Tide Pools program to NH schools several times in the
next few weeks. Before we know it, whale watch season will be
starting, with trips beginning in mid-May. Our friends in more
southern areas of the Gulf of Maine, such as Gloucester, Boston, and
Provincetown, are whale watching already and have said sightings are
good so far. We are looking forward to getting out there ourselves
and seeing what this whale watch/research season will bring!
In this issue, our Research Coordinator reports on a rescue of a
seal last week in Rye, and we’re announcing many exciting upcoming
events. Read on for more!
Rare Ice Seal Rescued in Rye
By Dianna
Schulte, Research Coordinator
On April 24th, I got an urgent call from the New England
Aquarium’s Rescue and Rehabilitation department about a live
stranded seal in Rye. I volunteer for the aquarium responding to
marine mammal strandings along the NH coastline that are too far for
the NEA (Boston) rescue team to check out quickly.
The Rye police had reported seeing a seal in the salt marsh behind
Ray’s Restaurant- quite far from the ocean where it belongs- and
made the right decision by calling NEA. Sometimes seals will strand
on beaches just to rest and are usually back in the water by the
next high tide. This particular seal had been in the marsh for at
least two days and would need to navigate the maze-like twists and
turns of the marsh ditches at high tide and then swim under a bridge
and the entire length of Rye Harbor to reach the ocean. A timely
escape was unlikely.
Upon arrival at the scene, I didn’t know what kind of seal I was
dealing with. Typically we see harbor seals and occasionally gray
seals in the area. This one didn’t look like either of those. It was
over a meter long, had large, saucer-like eyes, a scrunched up
little nose, a dark back and light belly with no spots. It was also
quite vocal and made sure I knew it was there! This description to
the experts at NEA confirmed it as a hooded seal pup!
Hooded seals are ice seals. They typically live in Canada and
Greenland on the pack ice. Occasionally the juveniles will drift as
far south as Florida but that usually occurs during the winter
months. This particular seal was a pup, likely born last month. At
birth, hooded seals are about a meter long and only nurse for four
days! During those four days, they will drink about 10 liters of
high-fat milk and gain over 7 kg per day! Once weaned, the pups will
stay on the ice for days or even weeks before venturing into the
water to learn to swim, dive and feed. The young ones eat krill and
other invertebrates until they become skilled in the art of
fishing.
From my assessment of the pup, it appeared healthy and robust. The
NEA experts decided it could spend one more day relaxing on the soft
marsh grass before being captured and released in a more fitting
habitat- the ocean. This also allowed time for a rescue plan to be
put in place.
The next day, on the 25th, I relocated the seal (it had
only
moved a dozen or so meters from its spot the day before) and with
the help of two well-trained NEA volunteers, Terry and Mark Rogers,
and our staff naturalist, Patty Adell, we managed to coax the pup
into a crate (not an easy task!) and bring it across the busy street
to the ocean. I should note here that all marine mammals are
protected by law and no one should feed, touch or approach these
animals without permission and special training. All wild animals
are unpredictable, can bite and may have diseases. This seal was
certainly keeping us on our toes and showed us its huge teeth on
many occasions!
At the beach, we carried the crate containing the 50 kg baby over
the rocks and seaweed and set it near the ocean’s edge. Terry opened
the door, and I expected the seal to bolt for the water. It didn’t.
Instead, it cautiously poked its head out, looked around and almost
seemed to be thinking about whether it wanted to swim free or not.
Eventually, the pup made a few moves toward the water, stopped to
look back at us all, and then disappeared into the waves.
Helping wildlife, especially marine mammals, to survive in today’s
quickly changing environment is partly why I co-founded Blue Ocean
Society. To be a part of this success story, and to be able to make
a difference in the life of even a single animal, was amazing and
extremely rewarding. I hope our little hooded seal pup has a safe
journey back to the chilly waters of eastern Canada or Greenland
this summer. It will certainly face many other challenges along the
way but with compassionate people looking out for our valued marine
life, I am assured that this pup will have a good chance at a long
life.
*If you see a stranded seal, whale, dolphin or turtle, contact the
New England Aquarium’s Stranding Program at 617-973-5247. And thanks
for caring about our marine animals!
 Thanks
to Leo Gagnon, Strategic Real Estate Advisor with
Keller
Williams Realty, for his generous support as our 2007 Annual
Sponsor!
We also
thank
Spectex, LLC for their generous donation to our Marine
Conservation Education Fund. For more information on sponsorship
opportunities,
click here.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, May 5:
Beach Cleanup at Jenness Beach,
10:30 AM. It’s the last NMDMP survey and Cinco de Mayo. Wear a
sombrero and win a t-shirt!
Sunday, May 6:
Children's Day in Portsmouth, 12-4 PM. Visit our touch tank
during our season opening!
Thursday, June 14: Wine Tasting Benefit: Mysteries of the
Sea, 6-8 PM at Blue Mermaid Island Grill in downtown Portsmouth.
Discover the mysteries of wine and the great murky deep while
sampling different vintages innovatively paired with tasty
appetizers and desserts. Learn about the mysteries of whales and
other marine mammals found right here on the New Hampshire Seacoast
with an engaging, brief program. Tickets are $50 each, and proceeds
will benefit our research, education, and conservation programs. For
more information and to purchase tickets,
Click here.
Join us
in August on a Sunset Paddle with our new friends at Plum Island
Kayak! Below, you can see Ken, Carrie, and Libby from Plum Island
Kayak, who came out to clean up Peirce Island with us for Earth Day!
Details soon to come -- check
our events page.
Be Simply Green!
We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Simply Green, a
local hydroseed, BioFuel and BioDiesel Company. Simply Green has
offered special membership pricing to our readers, including up to a
10 cent (per gallon) savings on BioHeat, discounted service
contracts, a Plant-a-Tree promotion for each new automatic delivery
customer, and a 10% discount on lawn-related services. For more
information, call 603-772-3155 (BioHeat & BioDiesel) or 603-430-9919
(hydroseeding & lawn care), or download the membership offer flyer
here.
Conservation Tip of the Month
Choose “ocean-friendly” fish when you’re eating seafood. Visit
http://seastheday.theoceanproject.org/seastheday/consumption/
for the top ten ecologically-best seafood choices!
Thanks for your interest in marine conservation. If you wish
to support our work, please click here.
Have you become a member yet?
Click here
to buy merchandise such as Adopt-a-Marine Creature
packets, t-shirts and sweatshirts online!
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