Things finally began to heat up this week for seal pup responses to kick off what is usually Seal Sitters’ busiest time of year, harbor seal pupping season.

Late Friday afternoon, the 2nd, Seal Sitters First Responders David and Eilene were enjoying the drop-dead view of Seattle’s city skyline from Jack Block Park. A couple noticed their cameras and mentioned they had just seen a harbor seal pup crawl up on the beach.

Within minutes, the beach near the pup was closed off to public access with yellow “Protected Marine Mammal” tape. The Sikh couple was asked if they would like to name the pup. They chose Hargobind, a Sikh name that means “a part of God” or “God sustains” and hoped the pup would fare well.

Brand new volunteers Eka and her two young daughters were thrilled to be called to duty to help protect their first pup, sleeping so close to the sidewalk that runs along the beach. Volunteer Ashely came down, too, to talk to passersby. Hargobind was still snoozing on the pebbled beach as darkness fell and the park was closed for the night.

First Responder Robin checked for signs of the pup when the park reopened at 6:30am, but the beach was empty.

On Wednesday, the 7th, First Responder Lynn received a disturbing call from Seal Sitters’ hotline, that a seal pup “missing an eye” was on a beach bordering Lincoln Park. Bracing herself for something horrible, she threw the kennel and capture net in her car in case a rescue was necessary.

She was met onsite by FR David and they were both relieved to find that the pup indeed had both eyes intact. Apparently, the reporting party must have walked up to the pup who was sleeping on his/her side and mistook the ear hole for an eye socket. Harbor seals have no ear flaps and often the public reports “shot” seals, mistaking the ear hole for bullet wounds.

Volunteers were quickly lined up to help out on the beach, including two new young volunteers Thuy and Thuc. Thuc’s little sister Lily named the pup Fly as she peered through the spotting scope that had been set up to allow a closeup view.

Wet sprinkles turned into showers which then turned into rain. As people began to leave the park, there were only a few souls left who stopped to check out the little pup. Fly snoozed until almost 5 and then made the long scoot to the water’s edge and slipped off into Puget Sound.

Tags: Hargobind, Fly