This morning animal caretakers from animal shelter Ecomare received a report that there was a seal with ‘presumably a net around it’ at Paal 14 on Texel. The seal lay with its head out to sea.
Serious injuries
Once they arrived, the zookeepers quickly saw that the animal was not well. Because of the serious injuries, they did not cut him free right away, but took him to the shelter with net and all. There he was freed and the vet was quick.
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The young seal was badly damaged by the net that was tightly wrapped around its body, Ecomare writes on their website. “The net was deeply cut into his neck, the corners of his mouth were torn and his mouth was also damaged.”
‘Cut ever deeper’
The keepers suspect that the animal has been swimming around with the net, a combination of nylon thread and rope, for quite some time. “As the animal grew, the rope cut deeper and deeper into its flesh.” The 30-pound gray seal is still a young male that was born last winter.
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It is “one of the most serious cases” caregivers have ever seen. Whether he will make it is still uncertain. The young seal has been aptly named Nylon.
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