Dead Seal Recovered On Sandy Hook Beach In Middletown

The body of a young harbor seal was recovered at Sandy Hook Beach, authorities said.

A young harp seal.
Photo Credit: *Daily Voice file photo*

A young harbor seal's body was recovered near Plum Island.
Photo Credit: *Google Maps*

04/17/2020 4:43 p.m.

The dead yearling seal washed up on the beach at the southern end of Plum Island in Middletown about 11:30 a.m. Friday, according to Bob Schoelkopf, director of New Jersey Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

Troy Platt, a stranding technician, said the seal's body was too decomposed to conduct a necropsy and determine cause of death.

There have been numerous seal sightings along the Jersey Shore this spring, Platt said, because of mild weather and the fact that many gray seal pups are now migrating south from Maine and Massachusetts.

"We had more than 130 calls last month,'' Platt said of March seal sightings.

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