IFAW Seeking Information On Missing Dead Seal Near Sippewissett Beach
During last weekend’s dolphin rescue, International Fund for Animal Welfare marine mammal rescuer Barbara P. Schneider saw a dead seal pup near the Little Sippewissett Beach area. It has since disappeared.
Ms. Schneider noticed the seal, which had creamy white fur and was about the size of a newborn, sometime mid-morning on Monday, May 30, in the area just south of the apartments on Cape Codder Road. She wanted to stop and identify the animal but was unable to, due to the ongoing dolphin rescue that began early Sunday morning and lasted until Monday afternoon.
On Monday evening, Ms. Schneider returned to the site where she had photographed the carcass and found that it was no longer there.
Ms. Schneider said that she believes it could have been a young harp seal, which would be unusual because they are not commonly spotted here and if so, would have usually been spotted between late February and early March—not Memorial Day weekend.
While it is possible that another wild animal got to the seal before IFAW could, the timing indicates that that would have happened during the daytime with people around. The organization is asking that anyone who saw anything or knows anything about the seal’s whereabouts to please contact the IFAW hotline at 508-743-9548.