According to Saugerties lighthouse keeper, Patrick Landewe, the following backstory of a seal’s location and recent journeys was provided by Tom Lake of the Hudson River Almanac: On December 3, 2021, we told the story of the male harbor seal, flipper-tagged as number 246, that had chosen to reside in the vicinity of Esopus Creek at Saugerties, 113 miles from the sea, for 620 days. Then, on April 24, 2021, he mysteriously disappeared for 123 days. During those four months, our thoughts ranged from tragedy to abandonment.
Then, on June 17, 44 days later, Maxine Montello, Rescue Program Director with the New York Marine Rescue Center, told us she had picked up a male harbor seal with a tag number 246 on Atlantic Beach, Nassau County, Long Island, 140 miles seaward of Saugerties. The seal was getting a lot of attention from the public, had some superficial scarring on his body, so it was decided it would be in the best interest of the seal to give him some rehabilitation.
He was transported to the Marine Rescue center in Riverhead, Suffolk County, Long Island. He stayed at the rescue center for two months and was treated for an infection as well as seal pox (a cutaneous skin condition caused by a Parapoxvirus).
On August 14, after being given a second blue tag, number 105, he was released in Hampton Bays, Suffolk County. From there he began a 210-mile journey from Hampton Bays to New York Harbor and on upriver to Saugerties.
Our aquatic friend has been spotted and filmed by Rebecca Hung at the Saugerties Lighthouse this weekend.
Hudson Valley One wrote about the seal back in 2020. The artcle stated, ” “According to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, it is a male harbor seal, about two years old,” Landewe wrote in an email… ” If this is the same seal spotted back then, it would mean that the seal is now 3 1/2 years old. To read more about the seal go to: Hudson Valley One wrote about the seal back in 2020. The artcle stated, ” “According to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, it is a male harbor seal, about two years old,” Landewe wrote in an email… ” If this is the same seal spotted back then, it would mean that the seal is now 3 1/2 years old.
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