LuSeal Shares New Pool At Woods Hole Aquarium

     If the young harbor seal at the Woods Hole Aquarium could talk, it would undoubtedly have a harrowing tale to tell.
     The new pup is a 1-year-old harbor seal that was found stranded several months ago on a beach in Southhampton, New York. When it was found, the young seal had clearly been mauled by a shark. Its hind flippers were shredded,  and it had puncture scars on its back and chest. Its tail was almost severed. It was also blind.
     The injuries all healed over time, except the seal’s eyesight, and rescuers determined that the seal may have lost its sight due to trauma from the shark attack.
     It is also possible that sand that got in the seal’s eyes may have caused abrasions. But all treatments failed, and the little seal remains blind and, therefore, is not able to be released into the wild.
     The young seal’s new home is the new seal pool at the Woods Hole Aquarium. He joins LuSeal, the 6-year-old seal that has lived in the aquarium pool for five years.
     The seal pool, one of Woods Hole’s most popular attractions, is having an official reopening tomorrow after a two-year closing, including a six-month renovation.
     At the grand opening “Meet the Seals” ceremony tomorrow at 1:30 PM, aquarium staff will show off the new facility and, most importantly, unveil the name for the new seal that will keep LuSeal company.
     The renovation came about because the aquarium wanted to modernize the facility and make it safer and more comfortable for the seals and also for the public.
     The delay, according to Senior Aquarist Rachel E. Metz-Leland, was to give enough time for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which runs the aquarium, to find a suitable, affordable pool design.
     The new pool is four times the size of the old one, holding 17,000 gallons. It is longer and deeper, allowing much more swimming space, as well as more haul-out space, for the seals.
     One of its key features is a state-of-the-art water quality system. Instead of filtering and circulating harbor water, as the old system had done, the new system chills and disinfects the water, making it healthier for the animals, Ms. Metz-Leland said. The new system is a “closed system,” unlike the former “open system” in which harbor water flowed in and out constantly.
     Construction began in the fall and finished in early March. One of the big differences that visitors will notice is that secondary fencing has been placed around the pool, so the public no longer has 24-hour access to look at the seals.
     Ms. Metz-Leland said that while some visitors are disappointed about the reduced access, it allows the animals to have some time off from being looked at.
     “They need sleep like we do. They don’t need to be on display 24/7,” Ms. Metz-Leland said.
     The seals at the pool are considered not releaseable into the wild, because neither would survive on their own.
     LuSeal lived at the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford during the renovation.
     When LuSeal originally stranded on the Upper Cape about five years ago, she was severely emaciated but rescuers could not find any medical problem that would prevent her from being returned to the ocean, so they did. She immediately stranded again, exams were done, and she was released a second time. She then stranded a third time, and rescuers determined she has “a failure to thrive,” and would not survive in the wild.
     She has adjusted well to the new pool, Ms. Metz-Leland said, and has picked up her old behaviors that help with her care, like allowing staff to give her shots, weigh her, and check her teeth. She also takes a new medication, birth control, since there is now a male seal in the pool with her.
     Seals live about 20 to 25 years in the wild. The oldest seal in captivity lived to 42 years old, though the average age for seals in captivity is 35. Ms. Metz-Leland attributes the much longer life of captive seals to the “availability of medical and dental care, three square meals, no predation, and no competition for older seals,” which have to compete for food.
     The two seals get along very well, Ms. Metz-Leland said. At first the little seal, at about 85 pounds, seemed intimidated by LuSeal, who weighs in at about 135 pounds, but now he follows the bigger seal around like a puppy. They play together, and they sleep next to each other after hauling-out.
     Earlier this spring, the aquarium asked visitors for suggestions on names and received about 150 possibilities.
     With public input, those were narrowed down to five, and one will be chosen at the opening ceremony tomorrow at the aquarium.
     The five possible names are Woody (for Woods Hole); Hampton (for where he was found), Seymour (because he cannot see anymore), Noah (for NOAA), and Bumper (because he bumps into things).
     The schedule for seal feedings is weekdays, Tuesday to Saturday, at 11 AM and 4 PM. After Labor Day, the aquarium is open Monday to Friday, and feedings on those days are at 11 and 4.