Mammals

BATS - FRIEND OR FOE?
Bud Maaser, No. 1 of 1993

BAT UPDATE, 2002
Well, our friendly bats have moved south for the winter, along with many of our beach residents. I am happy to report that we had tenants in our bat house at Gilgo Beach again this year. It was great to watch them flying around at dusk, knowing they were eating our overabundant supply of mosquitoes.One day this summer, my wife Pat found a dead bat along the road at Gilgo. With all the concern about West Nile disease and rabies, we decided to call the Suffolk County Health Department.

We were told not to touch the bat but shovel it into a container and someone would be out to pick it up. The next day a representative from the health Department came to our house and took the bat to be tested. He advised us that about 5% of the bats tested by the State are positive for rabies. There were 123 rabid bats in New York State last year.

In the past six years, two people died in New York from bat associated rabies. We were told that we would get the test results in three days. Sure enough, we got a call from the Suffolk County Health Department advising us that all tests, including rabies and West Nile disease, were negative.Pat and I were very pleased with the way the whole event was handled.

For more information and what to do with dead birds, Suffolk County residents can call 631-853-6975. Nassau residents can call the Nassau County Health Department at 516-571-2290 during business hours or 516-742-6154 for emergency consultation after hours and on weekends.

Who doesn’t love dolphins?  Didn’t we all get a warm and fuzzy feeling watching the “Flipper” show on TV?  Ocean bathers and boaters are always thrilled when they see a school of dolphins leaping in graceful arcs above the water.  So, by special request and popular demand, we devote a few columns to dolphins.

Aquatic mammals, related to whales and porpoises, there are 32 species of dolphins.Dolphins have well-defined beak-like snouts and conical teeth, unlike porpoises whose teeth are chisel-shaped and snouts are blunted.  Like other mammals, dolphins need to breath air and they do so through a blow hole at the top of their heads.  As they swim they break the surface of the water to make a short explosive exhalation and then a longer inhalation before diving again.

A dolphin exchanges as much a 90 percent of the air in its lungs with every breath. Most mammals, including humans, exchange only 15 percent.

Dolphins breathe while they sleep, females lie on the surface of the water with their blowholes in the open air and males sleep just below the surface rising periodically as a reflex action to expose their blow holes to the air.  Dolphins’ lungs are adapted to withstand rapid pressure changes as they dive to depths of more than 1000 feet.

Dolphins are perfectly streamlined for speed and can sustain a rate up to 19 miles per hour and short bursts of more than 25 miles per hour.  The dolphin’s skin is sleek and offers little resistance to the water.  Its tail, like that of other aquatic mammals, strokes in an up and down motion which in double time drives the animal forward.  Its flippers are used for stabilization.

The dolphin has no sweat glands and it stays cool by releasing heat through its flippers.

Dolphins generally have different mates every time they breed.  Depending upon the species, gestation is from 10 to 12 months.  The female dolphin gives birth to a live calf who emerges tail first. Several dolphins surround the mother to assist her and protect her from shark attacks, since sharks are attracted by the blood strewn in the birth process.  The midwife dolphins sometimes tug on the newborn’s tail as it emerges and they swim together to the surface to guide the calf to its first breath.

The calf will feed by taking hold of one of the nipples which are located in the grooves along its mother’s belly.  Underwater nursing sessions are frequent and short so the calf can surface for its breaths.  The calf can swim rapidly at birth but it stays close to its mother for the first few weeks.  The newborn’s teeth will start to come in right away but it will be many months before it is weaned and independent.  And, it will likely stay near its mother for three to six years.

Dolphins are sociable animals, living in mixed groups of males, females and young.  They are known to establish strong bonds with one another.  In addition to the mother-calf bond, adult male pair bonds are long lasting.  Dolphins have been known to help an injured mate by physically supporting the animal at the surface so it can breathe.

They communicate with each other by using a language of clicking and whistling sounds.  The clicks are short pulses of about 300 sounds per second, coming from a mechanism located just below the blowhole.  These clicks are used in an echolocation system, similar to that of  bats, and help dolphins to find their prey and navigate in close quarters.

The clicks are sent forward by an “oily melon” which is located above the forehead and acts as an acoustic lens.  Echoes are received at the rear of the lower jaw and are transmitted by a fat organ in the lower jaw to the middle ear.  The high-pitched whistles are single-toned squeals that come from the larynx and are used to communicate alarm, excitement and possibly other emotions.

In one day dolphins eat an amount of food equal to one third of their own weight.  Their diet is mostly fish and squid.  They are quick enough to outdistance their prey and they grab their catches with jaws that have as many as 250 sharp teeth.  According to the availability of food, their hunting technique varies.

When a large school of fish is present dolphins cooperate and drive the prey into a large mass to the water’s surface, thereby cutting off escape.  In some dolphin species the fishing group could be counted in the tens of thousands.  Dolphins usually hunt during the day, but when fish become scarce they will search for bottom-dwelling fish and squid which are active at night.

At one time dolphins were hunted commercially for an oil which was extracted from parts of their heads.  Used to lubricate delicate mechanisms, the oil was considered valuable.  Now cheaper oils are derived from other sources and dolphins are no longer destroyed for the small quantity of oil each yielded.

Many dolphins are, however, killed accidentally as they are drowned in tuna nets.  Millions of dolphins died this way until pressure from animal rights activists and US tuna consumers caused canneries to refuse to accept shipments from fishing fleets that do not protect dolphins.

Like all animals dolphins are vulnerable to pollution.  The two most notable dolphin species are the bottle-nose dolphin and the common dolphin.

The bottle-nose dolphin is famous for its adaptability to training and its ability to perform.  Tursiops truncatus, its species name, can reach a length of 12 to 14 feet and a weight of a half a ton.  Mostly grey in color, its average size is about 9 feet and 500 pounds.  They are very athletic and capable of leaping as high a 16 feet above the water.

Sexual maturity is attained at 8 years and mating can occur at any time.  But, mating is usually in late spring or summer and birth to a single calf occurs 10 to 12 months later.  A bottle-nose calf nurses for 16 months and its mother usually breeds once every three years.

Bottle-nose dolphins can live up to 50 years.  Their range is temperate coastal Atlantic waters, the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea.  Close to shore they swim alone or in small groups; out at sea they may travel in herds of several hundred.  A bottle-nose dolphin can stay submerged in the water for up to 15 minutes.

The common Dolphin, delphinus delphis, is considered the fastest of the small dolphins.  It has been clocked at 27 miles per hour.  The common ranges between 5 to 8 feet long and weighs in around 160 pounds. It has a black back, white belly and yellowish stripes on its sides.  Its snout is longer than the bottle-nose.

The common reaches its sexual maturity at 5 to 6 years and in the North Atlantic mates in the fall.  A single calf is born 10 months later.  Common dolphins are found in the coastal waters of all the tropical and temperate seas.  they do not range as far north as the bottle-nose.  They are migratory, following schools of fish.  The common can only stay submerged for 3 to 4 minutes.  While common dolphins are playful and and seem friendly toward humans as they follow boats, they are not easily tamed and do not thrive in captivity.

Dolphins have fascinated humankind for a long time.  And, perhaps they are fascinated by humans.  At least they seem to be curious about divers and boats as they hang around. 

Harbor seals live in groups on both coasts of the US and Canada.  On the East coast their habitat extends south to Virginia.  It is the only northern true seal that always breeds on land rather than on ice.

True seals’ hind limbs do not flex forward and can only be carried behind the body to stroke vertically much as a dolphin’s tail. As with other true seals, the harbor seal has enlarged bones in the lumbar region to support the large muscles used for swimming.  Its body, which is about five feet long, is streamlined to  make it a very efficient and fast swimmer.  It moves its rear end from side to side with its rear flippers extending behind.

Its front flippers are too small to support its body on land.  So, on land it is very awkward and can only drag itself across the beach.  If it is threatened it retreats to the sea.  It only “hauls out” to rest and breed.

Harbor seals breed in June and July on beaches or rocks that are often exposed only at low tide.  The female times her arrival at the breeding place at low tide.  The pup must be born before the site becomes submerged again.  Since it will be swimming right after birth the pup is well formed at birth.  It quickly develops a layer of blubber and learns to swim staying close to its mother for the first few days of life.

The mother suckles her pup for three to four weeks.  During this time she eats very little.  Then she leaves her pup so she can mate with a bull.  Eleven months later she returns to the same breeding site to bear a new pup.  At the end of breeding season harbor seals return to the water to feed.

They travel in groups for long distances from their breeding grounds to follow schools of fish.  Just before breeding season the seal eats as much as possible to build up its blubber.The harbor seal feeds on a variety of fish and it can dive as deep as 100 feet to catch them.  Its mouth and nostrils are adapted for diving underwater to catch food.  Its nostrils and the back of its throat close to prevent water from entering its lungs and stomach.  The seal’s jaws and teeth are adapted for catching and carrying prey. It brings its prey to the surface and swallows it whole.

The harp seal, Phoca groenlandica is a marine mammal common to the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

It spends most of its time in the sea but will go onto ice floes. Its range is from Russia to Greenland to Canada. New York is not in its normal range. The adult harp seal can grow to 6 feet long and can weigh over 300 pounds. Females may be smaller than males. Adult harps have short, thick whitish fur with black patches, that generally form a harp shape, and a black faces.

Young harp seals are all white. Their whiskers, called vibrissae, aid their sense of touch and help them navigate as they swim. Their nostrils and ears, which have no external flaps, are closable. They have very acute hearing underwater and their vision is developed for both darkness and bright light due to their large sensitive eyes. Their hind flippers have five digits each.

Harp seals are carnivores, eating mostly fish and crustaceans. The young feed in surface water, while adults may dive deeper for cod or herring. They do not chew their food but swallow large chunks. They have pointed teeth in front and flat teeth in the back of their mouths. The back teeth are used to crush the shells of crustaceans.

Harp seals are hunted by killer whales, polar bears and people. The "white" pups were prized and hunted until the 1980's when laws were enacted. The quotas are now set at 275,000. They are the third most abundant seal in the world.

Harp seals can live up to 40 years and sexual maturity is reached at 6 years. Mating occurs in early spring. Not long after birth new pups are abandoned at two weeks of age. Generally, female harp seals concentrate in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and haul out onto the ice to give birth in late February or early March. The mother nurses the pup with very rich milk which quickly fattens the youngster so that it can make it on its own. A pup starts feeding on krill and normally begins to travel north.

The number of arctic seals, harp and hooded, found south of their normal range increased 92-fold in the last decade. There has been much speculation about the reason for harp seals straying beyond their normal territory, which is no farther south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Changing oceanographic conditions and the depletion of prey fish seem the most likely theories. Over the last 4 years there hasn't been adequate ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for seals to birth. And, Atlantic cod and redfish numbers have dropped due to over fishing.

Harp seals have found themselves in a state of confusion.

A life-long Gilgo Beach resident remarked to me recently that he thought great egrets ate only fish. But, he had just witnessed an egret catch and then gulp down a mouse, "right out in the open". The egret meal that Paul observed was a meadow vole, which is sometimes called a field mouse. Voles have provided sustenance for many a heron and egret in the summer and the marsh hawks throughout the year on the salt marshes along the south shore of Long Island.

The meadow vole, Microtus Pennsylvanicus, is 5 to 7 inches long, including the tail. It weighs only an ounce or two. A vole's color can vary from a reddish-brown to a blackish-brown. All of the voles that I have seen in our area are the latter and they all have grey undersides.

These voles have blunt muzzles, short ears, and short legs, and their tails are shorter than other mice. Worldwide there are 70 vole species (Microtus) and these rodents are closely related to lemmings. Meadow voles are common across North America but they require water and therefore prefer wet meadows. They generally live in the lush, dense vegetation along the edges of streams or other waterways.

Voles build runways of thick grass above ground. Burrows are not preferred because of the waterlogged soil associated with their habitats. The runways go to and from nests: which are built in clumps of grass; are spherical, about 5 to 6 inches across; and are lined with shredded leaves and grasses.

Voles are promiscuous breeders and could have as many as 12 litters in a year. They breed at any time in the year and a female will breed with any male that is attracted to her. The female will bear 4 to 7 young after a gestation period of 21 days. Litters produced in the summer, when food is more available, are usually larger than those produced in the winter. Youngsters become sexually mature in about a month.

The life span of a meadow vole is generally about 18 months but most females don't live long enough to produce more than two litters. Meadow vole populations fluctuate in cycles of 2 to 5 years. In peak periods as many as 250 voles have been counted per acre. After reaching a peak the population will drop to where only one vole per acre may be left. During peak vole population periods, predators may limit their diets to voles alone. A US Geological Survey cites one study that counted 27 birds, 20 mammals, 12 snakes, the bull frog, the snapping turtle, the northern pike and bass feeding on voles.

Nevertheless, the fluctuations in the meadow vole populations do not seem to be caused by increased predation or severe winters.The meadow vole's diet consists mainly of plant material like grasses, sedges, the roots and underground bark of shrubs and small trees, bulbs, and tubers. Sometimes insects are included in the vole diet. Voles will eat their weight daily and they do not store food. They eat constantly, concentrating on green material in the growing season and grains, seeds, and roots in the dormant seasons. Meadow voles do not hibernate. Female voles are very territorial. If a vole feels threatened it will stamp its hind feet. The only time a vole voices a noise is to threaten another vole. Given its preferred habitat, it's no surprise that the meadow vole is a good swimmer.

The raccoon is an animal that is well known.  It can be shy, gentle and very curious.

Some of the raccoons are bigger than the others depending where they live, the food that is available and the time of the year.  An adult raccoon can weigh eight to twenty pounds.  Male raccoons are usually heavier than females.

An adult raccoon can also have a length of twenty-four to forty inches, including his long tail.  Most of the raccoons that live in the wild, only live to about five years of age, but in some settings they can live to twelve.  The pelage of the raccoon is long and soft and the underfur keeps the raccoon warm.  Males and females have the same color.  Their color can be gray, brown, and black with white or yellow tips.

A raccoon also looks like he is wearing a mask on his face.  The "mask" is usually the most common feature with which people identify the raccoon.The raccoons like to make their homes in large trees, high from the ground.  In those trees, they can sleep, take refuge from the predators and bear their litters of babies, called cubs.

The raccoons like to live where they can find water, like near a stream or a river, and where they can find trees or dens.  The raccoons have been known to live in wood piles, drainpipes, and caves.  Raccoons are animals that live alone.  A raccoon doesn't have just one home, or sleeping site.  Some raccoons may change sleeping sites several times a year.  The raccoons will also find a new place to live when they are disturbed by a human or another animal.

The raccoons eat almost anything.  A raccoon is an omnivore and that means that he eats animals and plants.  Even garbage is one of his favorite foods.  The raccoons prefer plants to animals, like fruits, nuts and grains.  They also love corn.  Sometimes, a raccoon may add grasses, weeds, seeds, and flower buds to his diet.  The animals eaten by raccoons are found in mud or sand.  They eat squirrels, turtles, chickens, turkeys, ducks, birds and fish.

The raccoons wash their food before eating it because they are very clean and it makes it easier to swallow food, since they don't have any saliva glands to moisten their mouth.

There are many animals that hunt the raccoon.  The principal enemies of the raccoon are the wild cats, the wolves, the coyotes, foxes and let’s not forget man.  Even owls try to eat raccoons.  It is the cubs and the older raccoons that are weaker and are the best prey.  Adult raccoons that are healthy are good at finding places to hide.  They are also able to defend themselves.  They growl, hiss, snarl, snort and make sharp barks, like a dog.  A raccoon can sound very fierce and all this makes a raccoon look bigger than he really is. 

Some raccoons can live up to twelve years.  Most of them are eaten by their predator, hit by a motor vehicle or caught by humans.  In some areas, the raccoon is trapped for his fur which is valuable.  To some, hunting raccoons is a sport or a game.

The raccoons mate during the early spring.  A male and a female live together for a few weeks during the mating season and after that, they go their separate ways.  After the mating, the mother raccoon carries her babies in her abdomen for about sixty days. The babies of the raccoons are called cubs.  A raccoon cub weighs less that three ounces at birth.  The cubs (usually 3 or 4) are covered with fur, but their eyes and their ears are closed.  They will open seven weeks after they're born so they must depend on their mother for everything during this time.  The cubs can't walk until they are a month old because their legs are not strong enough to support them.  Once they are a few months old, they try to go with their mother to get food but a lot of times, they can't do it so they have to return to the den.  The cubs will not be strong enough to follow their mother until they are three or four months old.  By early autumn, the cubs spend seven days and nights away from their mothers.  Then they are able to find a home for themselves.

Fairly recent residents of our outer beaches have spotted red foxes, they are UNWANTED.  We are not sure how they arrived on the barrier island but they are reeking havoc with the native population of shore birds and possibly rabbits.

Wily, cunning and sly are but a few of the descriptive adjectives that our language equates with foxes.  There is no question that foxes are very intelligent and adaptable creatures. At one time it was believed that the over hunted red fox was in danger of extinction.  But, due to their adaptability and intelligence, that concern has disappeared.

They are clever and skillful hunters that can vary their diet with the times and circumstances.  On the outer beaches, they feast on tern and gull eggs and nestlings.  And, foxes are clever enough to recognize the plover enclosures and wait in ambush for the chicks to leave the enclosures in search of their meals.

It’s likely that foxes are responsible for the noticeable reduction of rabbits along the 17 mile stretch of Jones Island.  We know that foxes scavenge food from trash cans along the public beaches and residential communities.  The fox diet can also include insects and berries.

The red fox is not a native North American species.  It was introduced by the English for hunting purposes.  But, now the red fox population far exceeds that of the indigenous gray fox, particularly in the northern climes.

Foxes are in the dog family, Canidae.  With dog like faces and bushy tails, they have red fur except for the white under their chins and bellies.  The adults range from 42 to 45 inches in length and 11 to 13 pounds in weight.

Small though they seem, they are the largest predator currently prowling our barrier beaches.  Lately, there seems to be a correlation between an increase in shore bird population and fox trapping. In the years that the Town of Babylon has hired a professional trapper, the tern and plover count has improved.

Foxes are nocturnal and their night vision is especially sharp.  Behind the light-sensitive cells in a fox’s eye is another layer of cells which reflects the light back through the eye, increasing its ability to spot prey.  A fox also has supersensitive hearing.  It can pick up low frequency sounds such as rustling in the grass, to locate its prey.  The fox does not chew its meal, it uses a shearing action with its carnassial teeth to break off digestible chunks.

Except for breeding season, usually January, red foxes are solitary animals.  In March the young, 4 or 5 kits, are born and their mother, vixen, stays with them for two weeks, relying on their father, dog, to bring them food.  This is the only time that the male is allowed into the den.  By September the kits weigh as much as their parents and are almost as adept at hunting.  In  the following January the young vixens are mature enough for breeding.

Foxes do not have a very long life span in the wild, an average of two years.  Males only breed once and females 2 or 3 times. Most of a fox’s the day is spent in a den, which is dug under tree roots or into the sides of embankments.  It is the need for a dry area with some elevation which  provides a clue to the location of the fox’s den.

The flat, floodable bay islands do not provide shelter for the foxes.  On the barrier beaches the foxes are in the areas with built-up ground.  Wisely, much of the tern colony once at Cedar and Gilgo Beaches has migrated to the lower bay islands away from the foxes that were threatening their existence.

In an effort to include something about them in this issue, but not wanting to duplicate the previous article, we came across an essay in Reader's Digest - Our Amazing World of Nature, that says just what we wanted to convey to our readers.

A trapper I know spent an entire October day setting five traps to take a large red fox he had seen. After brewing the traps in a mixture of wood chips and water to rid them of his telltale scent, he covered them with leaves.

Pleased with his artful cunning, he turned to go home. There, not ten feet from him, sat the fox, as E.B. White says, "absorbed in apple-fall and mirth, and feeling very loud and nirsey." His ears were up, his nose licked wet, the better to "read" the subterfuge on the air.

Not only had he followed the trapper to every site; he had doused each trap with his own musk to warn the next fox that danger lay under the leaves. The more the North American red fox is trapped and chased, the smarted he becomes.

Today there are far more foxes - and far smarter ones - than our forefathers ever knew. In trying to outwit the fox, man has forced him to become the canniest animal in the countryside.

Living on Gilgo Beach often has many interesting events, some happy and some not so happy. I would like to share with you, our readers, the latest happy story.

Wednesday, January 29, of this year, a neighbor knocked on my door to inform me of an injured seal that had washed up on the ocean beach. I walked over to the beach and sure enough there was this beautiful animal up on the sand very alert but obviously not well. I had no idea what was wrong with it so I was not about to touch it or try to move it back into the water.

I went home and called a wonderful group called The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research. These people are devoted professionals who know how to handle any stranding. I was advised that a crew was on its way to another stranding of a seal at Point Lookout and they would be out to see us shortly.

Two hours later the Foundation crew arrived and after examining the seal it was determined that it had to be transported to Riverhead for tests. They gently lifted the seal into their truck and secured it so no further damage would occur and off they went to Riverhead.

I can't tell you how good I felt knowing that these people are there to help. The Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Program was developed in 1980 to respond to any whale, porpoise, dolphin, seal or sea turtle stranding on Long Island or in New York State. If an animal washes up alive, medical assistance and care given, and the animal is eventually released back into the wild whenever possible.

Post mortem examinations are conducted on dead animals. Tissues are collected for researchers nationally and internationally for analysis, and skeletal remains are prepared for educational institutions. Since it was established, the program has handled over 2000 animals.

Among the strandings was the first and only successful rehabilitation and release of a baby sperm whale, as well as seals and many sea turtles. If you come upon a stranded animal on the beach, do not try to move it, do not touch it. Keep people away and call the Riverhead Foundation as soon as possible. For strandings call 631-369-9829. They are great people and they will help in any way they can.

The Riverhead Foundation's fax number is 631-369-9826 and their web site is www.RiverheadFoundation.org.The day after they rescued the seal at Gilgo Beach, I called the Riverhead Foundation to inquire about the seal which we have named "Sammy". I spoke with Kim Durham who explained in detail what was wrong with the seal and what they were doing to cure him. She said that the animal was a young male harp seal with a viral infection which is common with young seals. They injected him with antibiotics and they were going to do blood work. They hand fed him some fish and it is expected that "Sammy" will make a full recovery.

Kim Durham thanked me for calling about the stranded seal and she said we may call at any time to be updated on Sammy's progress. What a great group of people. They made my day.

On a Sunday morning walk on the beach East of Gilgo, John and I spotted a seal stranded on the beach above the line of the previous high tide.  As we approached, it seemed alert and watched us carefully.

But, it was obviously ill or it would not have been beached.  It bounced on its belly to get away from us but its progress was limited to 3 feet or so, and not towards the ocean.We realized that we would have to call for help and stay away from the seal while we awaited its rescuers.  So while John watched from the dune area, I raced home to use the telephone.

After a few no answers I got the Coast Guard to reach Okeanos Ocean Research Foundation.  Their Stranded Mammal Project personnel promised to come as soon as possible.  While the rescue team was en route from Hampton Bays John and Susan and I took turns on a chilly vigil.  Eventually, Emergency Preparedness Director, Gil Hanse and Suffolk Police Officer, Keith Magliola joined us. 

We watched from a distance as the seal would alternately lay on its side; go back to its belly and bounce a few feet parallel to the ocean; lift its head and look around; and eat sand.  We decided that it was an adult gray seal because it was not spotted and was too large to be a harbor seal, which Gil said were common around Democrat Point.

After three hours of observance we noted that the seal was no longer moving.  By the time the Stranding Biologists from Okeanos, Kim Durham and Dara Fee, arrived we greeted them with our opinion that the patient was probably gone. Okeanos takes the animals, dead or alive, so Gil and Keith carried the cage that Kim and Dara brought as we all trooped over to the seal.

Kim announced as she approached that it was a young Hooded Seal which is an Arctic seal and is not normally in our waters.  Even though it looked dead Kim took the precaution of slipping a net over its head.  At that point the seal came alive - and violently so!  It thrashed around; growled and bared its teeth; and snagged the net in its mouth.

As Gil and Keith tried to help Kim get the seal in the cage it suddenly went stiff with the net caught it its teeth.  Since the seal was perpendicular to and blocking the opening of the cage and the frame of the net was also wider than the cage, Kim tried, very carefully, to get the net out of its mouth.  But, its teeth were clamped firmly and it looked like removing the netting would be impossible.

Kim explained that "playing dead" was a normal defense mechanism for Hooded Seals.  In the Arctic they are the prey of Polar Bears and, since Polar Bears don't eat dead meat, being convincingly dead is an important ploy for Hooded Seals.  Well, I was convinced that it was dead for the second time.

We all backed off and waited until the seal relaxed.  Kim approached; got the net out of its mouth; and then everyone helped to push it in the cage, which was a tight squeeze.  At 4+ feet our seal was larger than the seals that Okeanos normally rescues. After the cage was carried to the truck, Kim assured us that the seal would receive the best medical treatment available and it was designated patient #1194 in case we wanted to call to check on its progress.

Okeanos has an 85% recovery rate with its stranded mammal program.  On that day, March 6th, there were 12 seals in recovery at the Hampton Bays facility.  For future reference, Kim suggested, the Hot Line number for stranded mammals is 516-728-8013.Later in the week I called Okeanos to check on #1194's progress.

I learned that our seal was a female and that she was very very sick.  Further, I learned that Hooded Seals grow to be 8 to 10 feet long  and 400 to 600 pounds and have a 35 year life expectancy.  An interesting fact is that Hooded Seals have the shortest lactation period of any mammal - 4 days.  Their birth weight averages 44 pounds and in 4 days they double their weight.  Hooded Seals are also called Bladdernosed Seals after the expandable tissue over their nostrils which they develop as adults and inflate, probably to indicate fear or anger.

PLEASE!
Preserve and Protect our Beaches.

@ 2006 Save the Beaches Fund, Inc.