Volunteers rescue baby seal from Long Island beach, release him back into ocean 1 month later

Pepper the seal loves the cold and ice, but somehow this little guy found himself stranded on the Long Island shore during this year's unseasonably warm winter.

When volunteers from the Riverhead Foundation rescued one-year-old Pepper on March 8, he was dehydrated and weak. The group took him to their facility, located behind the Long Island Aquarium, where he was one of six harp seals in rehabilitation.

Pepper was probably one of Riverhead's healthiest rehabbing seals. One was rescued with a broken jaw and swollen fin -- and hadn't been named because staffers weren't certain if he'd survive. Another became entangled in plastic waste on Ponquogue Beach last month and still has a visible wound on his neck.

In Pepper's case, about a month in rehab paid off. He had become weak by eating sand and rocks, which gave him stomach issues. As a response to stress, harp seals, lovers of the cold, will eat snow and ice. But this season, there was very little of that.

Stacey Sager has more: https://7ny.tv/2Ivf7j3

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