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October 15, 2007

Seal, wounded by gunshot, to be returned to ocean

The adult male harbor seal found stranded at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Conn., in July after suffering a gunshot wound is slated to be released at Blue Shutters Town Beach in Charlestown tomorrow at 9 a.m.

The seal, believed to be 20 to 25 years old and weighing 212 lbs., had gotten the OK to be released on Sept. 26, after two months' treatment by Mystic Aquarium veterinary staff.

But the seal developed a problem with its right eye, the only one that works because of the gunshot wound.

“Because the animal has vision in only one eye, the veterinary staff at Mystic Aquarium was reluctant to have the animal released until a temporary condition called corneal edema was fully resolved,” Lawrence Dunn, staff veterinarian at Mystic Aquarium, said in a news release today.

The seal will never have use of its left eye because of the wound. But it will still be able to hunt and survive in the wild despite its handicap, the aquarium said.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 3:03 PM | Permalink

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