Patient Update: August 4th, 2019

Seals

Pup season is well under way! Remember, it is illegal to be within 150 ft of any marine mammal in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). If you feel like they’re sick/injured/need help, call your local stranding hotline:

• • IFAW: 508-743-9548; Cape Cod up to Plymouth
  • New England Aquarium: 617-973-5247; Plymouth up to Gloucester
  • Seacoast Science Center:  603-436-8043; Gloucester through New Hampshire
  • Marine Mammals of Maine: 1-800-532-9551; Maine south of Rockland
  • Allied Whale: 1-800-532-9551; Maine north of Rockland

Lily Potter, a female harbor seal pup, stranded in Milbridge, ME on 6/5 and was rescued by College of the Atlantic (COA) after being observed looking thin and dehydrated with a partial lanugo coat,. She was triaged by Marine Mammals of Maine before being admitted to NMLC on 6/16. She was severely hypoglycemic, anemic, and had an unstable metabolism, which required frequent administration of additional supplements to keep her alive.

In the past couple of days we noticed some discharge from Lily’s eyes, which is a possible sign of Phocine Herpesvirus 1 (PHV-1). Other than that, Lily has improved greatly since her admit. Her recent blood work has shown an improvementin her anemia. She is doing very well with assist feeds  – where one of our Animal Care staff members helps her learn how to swallow whole fish on their own. Now that she is eating whole fish she is finally gaining weight! Since Lily is strong enough to haul out onto the platform on her own, she has graduated to full water access all day.

 BEHIND THE NAME Lily Potter was a muggle-born wizard and the late mother of Harry Potter.

Fleur Delacour, a female harbor seal pup, stranded on Philbrick’s beach in Rye, NH on 6/27. She was rescued and transported to us by our friends at the Seacoast Science Center all within the same day. Fleur was admitted to us with emaciated body condition, puncture wounds on her rear flippers, and her right eye missing, a potential result of PHV-1. 

Over the weekend we noticed a decline in Fleur’s health; on Saturday she was very lethargic and almost non-responsive. She received emergency treatment through medication, fluids and supplements  and she is now more alert and aggressive in response! Aggressiveness can be good to see in seals because it shows that they are maintaining their wild instincts. Fleur has been having a lot of fun with fish school as well. Fish school is an activity that the volunteers do during swim time where we hold a fish with tongs and move it through the water. This way our young seals can begin to learn to track and catch fish, because eventually they will be hunting for their own food in the wild! 

BEHIND THE NAME Fleur Delacour attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and was their participant in the Triwizard Tournament. She is also married to Bill Weasley, Ron Weasley’s older brother.

Bellatrix Lestrange, a female harbor seal weanling, was rescued by Seacoast Science Center on 7/6. She was found on Salisbury Beach, in Salisbury, MA, looking both emaciated and lethargic, and is a suspected human interaction case – for the full story check out SSC’s Facebook . Upon admit to NMLC the same day, Bellatrix was found to be bleeding from the mouth, as she still had her deciduous teeth, or baby teeth, while her adult teeth were growing in. After blood and stool samples were collected, it was evident that she was infected with tapeworms, roundworms, and flukes, a good indicator that she was already eating fish in the wild. 

Not long after Bellatrix was admitted, she vomited  worms and was very lethargic. To allow her to rest she was put back on oral fluids and her water access was limited to only being hosed down a couple of times a day. In the past week, Bellatrix has made major improvements. She is back to eating whole fish and is getting swim time in deeper water as well! Just yesterday she chased and ate at least 2 live fish!

BEHIND THE NAME Bellatrix Lestrange was a pure-blood dark wizard who went on to become a Death Eater. Bellatrix was extremely loyal to Lord Voldemort.

Turtles

Our 3 Kemp’s Ridleys have been moved from the isolation tank to a pre-release pool to provide more space and temperature control for warmer ocean water during the extreme summer heat. Even though these turtles all came in because they were cold-stunned we still don’t want them getting too warm! Ladybug, Tunbridge, and Scuttle have all been approved to be released and will be back in the ocean in a week!

Interested in joining our team?

Internship Opportunities:

We offer both a Marine Animal Rehabilitation & Education internship and a marketing internship. Applications for our spring semester are due by 11/1/19. Our spring semester is our longest, but offers a wider range of hands on experience as it overlaps with our cold-stunning season! Click here for more information.

Volunteer Opportunities:

We offer a wide range of volunteer positions in various departments. This includes but is not limited to: animal care team (18+), junior animal care (14+), administration, and fundraising.

To find out more please click here.

Posted by Shannon B. and Erin M.

Shannon is a summer intern and a junior at the University of Maine with a Marine Science major.

Erin is a summer intern and a senior at UMass Amherst with a Biology major.