Harbor seal takes up residence in Saugerties

A harbor seal has taken up residence in Saugerties. According to Saugerties lighthouse keeper Patrick Landewe, the seal was first spotted August 5, 2019 but it was only last month that the numbers on its tag allowed it to be positively identified. “According to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, it is a male harbor seal, about two years old,” Landewe wrote in an email this week. “As a newborn pup, he was found abandoned and rescued on April 28, 2018 from Lower Goose Island at Harpswell, Maine. He was emaciated and suffered from infections. He was transferred to their facility in Mystic, Conn. for treatment, including surgery for an ear infection.  He was released at Charlestown, Rhode Island on January 17, 2019 with a satellite tracking tag.” Landewe wrote that the seal has visited the Connecticut River and the Long Island coast before heading up the Hudson. “It appears to be in good health and has been seen swimming, eating fish, and sunning itself — basically doing what seals do.” It’s unusual for a seal to stick around the Hudson for this long. Landewe asked that people not harass, feed or chase the seal. It’s illegal — “No selfies with seals!” he emphasized.