A harbor seal found shot in the face near the Herb Beck Marina in Quilcene Bay off Hood Canal last week is recovering but may not be able to survive in the wild, officials say.
If there’s permanent damage she can’t recover from, the seal may need to be put down, said Casey Mclean, executive director of SeaLife Response + Rehab + Research, a Des Moines-based marine wildlife hospital known as SR3 providing care for the animal.
“She's still not out of the woods yet, Mclean said.
It's unknown who fired the shot or when. The law enforcement arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is “looking to gather any information about these recent reports,” said spokesperson Cierra Jefferson.
This is the second seal shot in the face in the last few months that Quilcene-based Center Valley Animal Rescue has responded to, said founder Sara Penhallegon.
“We do know it happens throughout the Sound,” Mclean said. “It happens to all different species from seals to sea lions and it is quite prevalent.”
Workers around the Herb Beck Marina took notice last week when one seal hadn’t moved for hours, Penhallegon said.
Penhallegon and a couple of interns arrived Feb. 19 with a large dog crate, life jackets, a net, boards and other supplies, expecting some difficulty capturing the large marine mammal, but they found her to be “emaciated” and “lethargic.”
The outline of her bones was visible through what should usually be a very chubby exterior, Penhallegon said. She was "extremely malnourished" and had lots of nasal discharge signifying some sort of infection.
“It was not that difficult for me to get this animal into a crate,” said Penhallegon, who was prepared to be knocked into the water during a struggle. “It should have been very difficult.”
The interns drove the seal in her crate to SR3.
When the medical team took an X-ray of the seal, they discovered that she’d been shot in the face and the bullet was still lodged inside, Mclean said. She was also extremely dehydrated and weighed about 100 pounds, about half what an adult female seal should weigh.
After a few days, she’s eating on her own, Mclean said. The seal is taking antibiotics and pain meds, rehydrating, acting alert, and even swimming and hopping in and out of the water on her own in a large pool.
The seal will have to get a CT scan with the help of a local veterinary clinic to assess if she can recover enough to survive on her own in the wild, Mclean said.
Another harbor seal shot in the face in November in Port Ludlow, Jefferson County, less than 20 miles from Herb Beck Marina, did not recover and had to be put down.
Though it is unknown who shot either seal, Mclean and Penhallegon said commercial and recreational fishers may think the species is reducing salmon populations who have been facing existential problems. Recently, salmon have begun to rebound.
A joint memorial bill aimed at supporting salmon recovery was passed by the state House this legislative session and would allow the lethal removal of pinnipeds, such as seals and sea lions, from Puget Sound by modifying the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It is currently in committee in the Senate.
Seals aren't to blame for declining salmon populations, and resources should be used instead to focus on other efforts such as habitat restoration to boost the number of salmon, Mclean said.
Dead seals are washing up across West Coast shores with gunshot wounds, Mclean said. This is only the second seal with a gunshot wound that has come into SR3 alive.
If the trend continues, Mclean said, “we're going to have injured animals showing up on our shores in greater numbers.
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