A JUVENILE New Zealand Fur Seal has been returned to the Solitary Islands off Coffs Harbour after just over six weeks of rehabilitation for a severe shark bite.
The young seal was found in June in the canals of Newport, North of Brisbane.
She had a significant shark bite to her abdomen and was out of the geographic range for her species.
After six weeks of rehabilitation at Sea World Gold Coast, the seal was returned to the ocean last Tuesday with a satellite tag deployed as part of the NSW “Seabirds to Seascapes – Protecting Coastal Biodiversity” project.
It shows she is already traveling south to Scotts Head.
Sea World Foundation Curator of Operations and Animal Welfare Mitchell Leroy, said this was a great result considering the nature of her injuries.
“We departed Sea World in the early hours on Tuesday morning and travelled south to Coffs Harbour with the seal safely stowed in a pet-pack [and] with our team continually monitoring her throughout the journey,” Mr Leroy told News Of The Area.
“She travelled well and after the almost four-hour trip, we arrived at Coffs Harbour boat ramp and launched our Sea World Two vessel to head out to the Split Solitary Island Nature Reserve to return her just east of the Island.
“After getting her bearings, the seal exited into the water from the pet-pack from the side of the boat, and it was so rewarding to see her go straight into normal seal behaviours of grooming, face scrubbing and twirling in the water.
“We monitored her for a short period where she continued these behaviours about 100 metres off the Island, before leaving her to continue her travels to migrate south to her geographic range.”
Sea World Foundation Head Veterinarian Dr Claire Madden said it was rewarding for the team to see this little seal overcome her injuries and go full circle from admission to returning to the ocean.
“When she came into care, she was underweight and suffering from the shark bite wound, so we administered some fluids and cleaned the wound to give her the best chance of survival,” she said.
“Her rehabilitation at Sea World consisted of a tailored nutritional regime and, through providing a safe environment to recover, it was amazing to see the wound heal… [and] to get her back out to the open ocean.”
By Andrea FERRARI
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