SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A harbor seal with a severe neck injury was returned to the wild by SeaWorld’s Rescue Team.
After several attempts, the team was able to rescue the seal on June 29 after receiving reports that the seal had a gill net embedded in her neck at the La Jolla Children’s Pool.
“We checked out her wound and it was really deep,” said Eric Otjen, assistant curator of mammals for SeaWorld San Diego. “The net was cutting in to her neck to the point we couldn’t see the line anymore.”
The seal was brought back to the park for an exam and to remove the net. Team members say this was the worst wound on a marine mammal they’d ever seen.
“Her rehabilitation went very smoothly,” said Dr. Tres Clarke. “She was in the water the second day and even eating live fish.”
The harbor seal, along with two other rehabilitated seals were returned to the ocean on July 9.
