Seal Sitters had a bit of a crazy day today with multiple reports of pups on West Seattle beaches. Our hotline received a call about 9:30 with a report of a pup at Lincoln Park. Our responder reached the beach within 15 -20 minutes, but there was no pup to be found at that location - only a couple with a dog on a leash on the beach (against the law on all Seattle beaches). Our volunteer walked the beach to the north and discovered the very small, thin seal resting and established a large biodegradable tape perimeter around him. The pup, nicknamed Sunny D, finally returned to the Sound about 3:30. Shortly after leaving Lincoln Park, we received a call of another pup at Constellation Beach. The reporting party said the pup was being bothered by a group of people. When our responders arrived, he had returned to the water. Within minutes, we received yet another call that a pup was back on the beach at Lincoln Park. We responded and began to tape off the area, however, the pup was at the high tide line and went in the water. The pup was then reported further up the beach, but apparently a fisherman inadvertently scared the pup back into the Sound. Our volunteers scoured the shoreline til sunset. We want to stress again that each time a pup is forced to leave the beach, he is burning valuable calories that truly might be the difference between life and death.

A well-intentioned soul “tweeted” the location of the Lincoln Park pup in a desperate attempt to seek help for him. We respectfully ask that the public and media NOT broadcast the location of any marine mammal on the beach as it can compromise the safety of the animal. Please contact Seal Sitters’ hotline @ 206-905-SEAL (7325). We appreciate the support and thoughtful discretion that the West Seattle Blog embodies when covering real-time stranding network activities and pups on the beach.

Tags: Sunny D