We were able to take more photos of the Harbor Seal in Carlstadt last week, and thought we would share a large selection here — along with Part II of an interview with Robert Schoelkopf, founding director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

What can you tell us about the Harbor Seal we had in Carlstadt?
   It was a second-year male.

How could you tell it was a male?
   It wasn’t wearing a bikini top on, and the penile opening was visible in the shot you sent.

How could you tell its age?
   We could get an idea of its size by comparing it to the planks on the dock it was lying on. It was probably a 50-pounder, 60 pounder. The first-year ones, when we get ‘em in here, are usually about 35 pounds, 40 pounds.    This one had some fur missing around the neck but other than that, it looked quite healthy.

Where do Harbor Seals live most of the year?
North of Massachusetts.  We’ve done some satellite tagging, and we’ve had them go all the way up into Maine and Canada. They’re interesting animals because we relased oneyear  here and it went all the way down to Chincoteague and spent the winter there, and then made a bee line for Maine.

The rest of the interview — and several more never-seen-before photos — follow.

Continue reading →