Seal At New England Aquarium Dies After Swallowing Toy
A Northern fur seal at the New England Aquarium died earlier this year after accidentally swallowing a toy.
Commander, a 13-year-old Northern fur seal that had arrived at the aquarium in February, reportedly passed away back in April. Though news of his accidental death was first reported by Boston Magazine on Monday.
The aquarium had informed it's community of the death at the time it occurred, but only recently released a statement with any details to the public.
Their statement says that Commander had been playing with an enrichment toy that he had had for months when he accidentally swallowed it.
The team at the New England Aquarium spent two days trying everything they could to get the toy out of Commander's system, but sadly the 500-lb seal died when the toy got lodged in his throat as he tried to regurgitate it on his own.
The aquarium told the magazine that this was the first seal or sea lion death that has occurred from swallowing a foreign object in nearly 50 years.
They added that staff does routinely check for wear and tear on all toys the seals play with and they remove anything that appears dangerous to the animals.