Muskeget seal

[Bolonsky Adam]

This no doubt didn't end happily.

Mark and I had landed on Muskeget as the sun began to fade toward a muted scrim in the haze. We saw on a tombolo off Muskeget what looked like a log washed up on the sand.

Stephens landed. It was a seal with a large section of fishing netting wrapped around its neck. Mark approached and reached to slip the netting over the seal's head. It lifted its head towards him, gruntend, bared its teeth, and bellowed hoarsely and in agressive fear.

Mark backed off. The seal gallumpfed off the bar towards the water and slid into the waves, poking its head up to swivel its head towards us before submering again and swimmig away.

It's unlikely the animal survived. The net was around its neck tight, and seemed to be affecting the animal's breathing.

Later the tide came in and the tombolo disappeared.

[markstephens]

It was quite an animated conversation between would-be human rescuer and wild animal. The net would have had to be cut off. It was very tight. I couldn't risk a bite or getting slashed by sharp claws out there in the middle of nowhere.

It is a neat photo, though, giving an accurate sense of the bleak, horizonless, nearly featureless wildness of that place.

[birdseye]

Excellent Photo!

[rcohn]

Nice photo. I'll just point out you really don't want to be bitten or scratched by a seal. The resulting infection is reported to be quite nasty (and dangerous) and requires a series of antibiotics for treatment.

Ralph Cohn

Elaho DS, blue & white with yellow trim

[Bolonsky Adam]

I'll just point out you really don't want to be

>bitten or scratched by a seal. The resulting infection is

>reported to be quite nasty (and dangerous) and requires a

>series of antibiotics for treatment.

>

>Ralph Cohn

Hi Ralph,

could you send me more info or links about seal scratches/bites and the course of treatment?

I need more info to flesh out a possible article.

Reply here or to me at adambolonsky at yahoo dot com.

Thanks.

[djlewis]

>Nice photo.

Yes it is. But since I know mark does not have blond/almost white hair, I assume somebody played signficantly with the contrast and/or color balance to get that desolate, sun-washed feeling. (That's OK with me, BTW -- art comes in many forms.)

--David.

[markstephens]

What, David, you don't like my new look? Blond is beautiful, man!

I don't think that photo has been digitally manipulated. I've seen the original film print and it has the same yellowness and washed out look. The lighting there is definitely special. The color of the water and even of the fish was noticeably different than elsewhere around Nantucket/Vineyard Sounds.

[glil]

That's very sad. The net may have been around it's neck for quite some time growing tighter and tighter. Was the seal full grown? I suppose there is a very slim chance that the seal may lose some winter fat and the net will loosen up a bit, although I suppose the net would just be pushed farther down as the seal swims.

I've never seen a seal in this situation, but all too frequently have found birds tangled in fishing line or a plastic bag or with a fish hook through the beak. Unfortunately, they are usually already dead or as in this case unable to get close enough to do anything about.

Anyway, it's nice to see that at least the effort was made to help.

[markstephens]

I got this note from Jim Rice, a marine biologist who used to work for the NE Aquarium and now works in Oregon:

"Hey Mark,

You made the right decision. That was a juvenile gray seal – a particularly nasty critter to wrestle with, even with a team of trained people. They have big sharp teeth, and are none too shy about using them. Unfortunately, entanglements of gray seals are pretty common – and usually hopeless. We used to try to disentangle animals if we could get to them, but they would usually flee to the water as soon as we approached them."