Seal Found in Providence Receiving Care at Mystic Aquarium

A rare seal that was eating rocks in Providence, Rhode Island has been under the care of Connecticut's Mystic Aquarium since being rescued in mid-September.

The young female hooded seal was first spotted by Mystic Aquarium's Animal Rescue Program in Watch Hill, Rhode Island in late August. After being spotted multiple times in Westerly and Providence, the seal was plucked from the Providence River and brought to the Mystic Aquarium for "medical evaluation and rehabilitation."

The Mystic Aquarium website says it is a "rare occurrence for Southern New England" to experience a visit from a hooded seal "typically found in the icy waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic."

The seal is about a year old.

The Aquarium says the seal was "attracting attention from onlookers" who "approached and attempted to interact" with the seal, "stressing this already vulnerable animal."

The stress of the situation resulted in the seal "ingesting rocks and gravel." The Aquarium says the seal was "severely dehydrated, underweight, and suffering from a belly full of rocks and gravel."

Hooded seals commonly feed on ice and snow in their natural Arctic habitat.

The Mystic Aquarium says, "The last reported hooded seal rescue in the area occurred nearly a decade ago in 2013."

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The Aquarium's most recent Instagram post about the seal is encouraging. Officials say the seal "is stabilizing and continuing to pass the gravel and small rocks she consumed."

The posting says the seal enjoys an occasional "fish smoothie" for nutritional support and is "getting feistier every day."

No word on when, where or if the seal will be released into the wild.