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Riverhead Foundation recovers gray seal pup

By Vera Chinese

Gray seal pup rescued
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | This one-month old gray seal was recovered by Riverhead Foundation biologist Gretchen Kowalik Tuesday.

A female gray seal pup found in a parking lot in East Marion is now on its way back to the ocean.

The seal, estimated to be less than a year old, was taken to the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Preservation and Research headquarters for an evaluation. It was found near the state boat ramp about 150 feet from Peconic Bay, according to Riverhead Foundation director Rob DiGiovanni.

Mr. DiGiovanni said Plum Island is a major haul out site for gray seals, so the animal might have come from there.

The gray seal, estimated to be about one year old and to weigh about 22 pounds, was taken to the foundation’s headquarters located at Atlantis Marine World Aquarium in Riverhead. Biologists are about to release the seal, which is in good health, near the Ponquogue Bridge in Hampton Bays.

The Riverhead Foundation asks anyone who spots a marine animal on land to call their 24-hour hotline at 369-9829.

Vera Chinese has been the editor of northforker.com and northforker magazines since May 2014. Prior to that she spent two and a half years as a staff reporter for the New York Daily News. She joined the Riverhead News-Review as a staff writer in January 2010 and was named Associate Web Editor nine months later. She previously worked for the Southampton Press Western Edition and was named the third place 2008 Rookie Reporter of the Year by the New York Press Association. She graduated from Wagner College in 2006 where she received a bachelor's degree in English. She earned a master's degree in English education from New York University in 2007. She is a 2002 graduate of Eastport High School and has lived on the East End for more than 20 years.

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