WELLS, Maine — A young harbor seal that found itself stuck on top of a snowbank at Wells Harbor and couldn’t get back into the water got a helping hand from Wells police on Sunday afternoon.
Wells police dispatcher Saundra Skoczen, who also serves as the Police Department’s Facebook page administrator, said the department received a call at 10:30 a.m. Sunday about the seal, which was lying on a snowbank near the boat launch at Wells Harbor, about 100 yards from the water.
Wells police cordoned off the area with orange cones to keep members of the public away from the seal until members of Marine Mammals of Maine in nearby Kennebunk arrived, Skoczen said.
They were able to successfully coax the seal back into the water two hours after the initial call was received.
“We just stood by to prevent people from touching him,” she added.
She said Wells police have a great deal of experience dealing with seals, especially in early spring.
“We’ve had everything here. We even had a beached whale once” seven years ago, Skoczen said.
During the rescue operation, Skoczen said a small group of people gathered to watch, but everyone heeded the police warning to not touch the seal.
“If anyone touches the seal the mother will abandon them so we absolutely make every effort not to let that happen,” she said.
Skoczen said no one was sure why this young seal chose to park himself on the snowbank. She said oftentimes the mother seal will leave her young on land while she goes off to hunt. Eventually, the mother seal will return and retrieve her pup.