PORT ANGELES — A juvenile female elephant seal was found molting on Ediz Hook near the Coast Guard station this week.
The seal was on the south side of the road near the Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles early Wednesday, and orange cones were set up to direct traffic around it.
Ed Bowlby, research coordinator for the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, said he looked at the seal Wednesday after receiving a call about it Tuesday night. He did not know how long it had been there.
A passer-by had thought the seal was injured. But it is only molting, Bowlby said.
Seals climb onto beaches once a year to molt — meaning that they shed their fur.
“That is why it looks so horrible and why fur is attached in some places and not in others, and it looks kind of bleedy,” Bowlby said.
“This is a normal process, though.”
The molting process can take about two weeks, he added.
Bowlby cautioned people to keep their distance from the animal and to keep pets away from her.
Stressful for seal
“This is a very stressful time for a seal,” he said. “It is a very painful process for them.”
He said people should not attempt to feed the seal or put water on it.
“People often think they are helping,” he said. “But it isn’t helpful, and, in fact, is harmful to the animal.”
Because Ediz Hook is not part of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Bowlby informed the Northwest Stranded Animal Network about the animal.
“They are the primary agency with authorization to do anything,” he said.
The network had requested that the Marine Sanctuary researchers keep an eye on the animal.
If people begin to harass it or it works its way up into the middle of the road, the network will work with the sanctuary to move the animal to a safer spot, Bowlby said.
“Hopefully, it won’t affect anything with human health or get in the way of traffic, but if it does, the Northwest Stranded Animal Network will work with us,” he said.
Bowlby said that because the animal was within eyesight of the Coast Guard entrance station, he had requested that the employees there keep an eye on it and inform him if people begin to harass it.
Molting seals often have been moved inside the Coast Guard base where they can be better protected from passersby.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
