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The travelling seal; Grey seal stops traffic
Topic Started: Feb 14 2008, 01:56 PM (61 Views)
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From this morning's Halifax Chronicle Herald -

Parrsboro (a little town on the Minas Basin) - Sometimes when you're out for a stroll, you can make traffic stop without even trying. That was the case Sunday morning when a grey seal decided to take a hike along Hwy 2 in search of what life's like away from the water. Exhausted from its journey, it came to rest on the side of the highway near the crest of a steep hill about 10 km from Parrsboro and the Minas Basin, its normal saltwater home.

(To make a long story short), the seal was more than six feet long and weighed 350 to 400 pounds. Fisheries and Oceans personnel and the RCMP came out, and discovered that their capture net was too small for the size of the seal, so a local fisherman brought a canvas tarp. But the exhausted seal didn't want its walk interrupted. A seal is a pretty aggressive animal and snapped at the officers several times, before they were able to prod it onto the middle of the tarp. Seals are not that fussy about being approached by humans, anyway.

After about an hour, they managed to get it moved into the middle of the tarp, wrapped it up and sealed the ends so it couldn't bite them. But it was way too big and heavy for them to carry it. So a local farmer came with his tractor with a front loading bucket, drove it back to the beach and let it go. It didn't take the seal long to find the water, and away he swam, for about 15 minutes in the inner harbour and then headed out to sea.

Nobody knows why the seal would travel so far from its natural habitat, but it isn't uncommon. There was once one found near the Halifax International Airport, it had travelled up the lake and river system from the Bay of Fundy, nobody knows why.
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Kahu
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Balsam's story brings to mind, a strange visitor, a sea elephant........Blossom! Blossom visited the same spot for a least five years in a row.

Oriental Bay, is the New Zealand equivalent of the Riviera or Cote d'Azur......a beautiful, but very expensive place to live!

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At Oriental Bay sun worshippers now sprawl where whalers once cut up their catch, and not far away a sea elephant with the singularly inappropriate name of Blossom spent part of his vacation jammed in the doorway of the public toilet.

Normally Blossom would sunbathe on the roadway, and no one could get close enough to get him to move, so traffic cones were put out, and the traffic moved slowly round him.

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All seals should be treated with caution. They have large teeth and can become aggressive. All seals move surprisingly quickly on land.
Leopard seals in particular should be treated with great respect. Unlike fur seals, they are not afraid of people and are unlikely to retreat into the water when approached. Fur seals can bite with up to 2 tonnes per cm2 pressure, and shake vigorously while biting, inflicting serious injury.

Unless there is a good reason to think a seal needs assistance, it should be left alone. Seals can survive quite major injuries if they are in good condition. Injuries such as cut or torn flippers, or minor gashes are not cause for concern. Unnecessary disturbance and a close approach can do more harm than good.
Always keep dogs and small children well away from seals. Do not feed seals. This may prevent weanlings learning how to catch food. They could also become a nuisance, or aggressive towards people that do not feed them.

• Approach the seal slowly, making sure you do not cut off its escape route to
the sea; try to avoid making eye contact with it; keep a safe distance away
(about 5 metres).
• Look for obvious signs of ill health or distress such as large open wounds, or
strapping or ropes embedded in the fur around the neck.

Do not attempt to move, or assist the animal yourself. Even if it is sick or injured
it may still be capable of inflicting serious injury. Seals can also carry infectious
diseases that can be transmitted to humans, and are difficult to treat.
If the animal is sick, injured, tagged or being harassed, please contact your nearest DOC office. DOC have experienced staff who will respond to the animal if
necessary.

When taking your call DOC will need the following information:
• Where is the seal and how can they get to it?
• What species of seal is it (or a description of what it looks like)?
• What size is it?
• What is wrong with it?
• What is the state of the tide?
• What are the local weather and sea conditions?
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