Harbor seal rescued from LBI beach on Christmas recovering after possible shark attack

A young harbor seal is recovering after washing up on a Jersey Shore beach on Christmas with injuries believed to be inflicted by a shark.

On Monday, the nonprofit Marine Mammal Stranding Center sent rescuers to Surf City, Long Beach Island after receiving reports of a badly injured seal lying on the beach. The male seal had a large laceration on his left hip and smaller wounds on his abdomen and around his tail, according to a Facebook post.

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The seal was transported to the Brigantine-based MMSC clinic where staff flushed out the wounds and administered fluids and infection-preventing medications. A veterinarian determined the wound is likely due to a shark bite. A variety of shark species live around New Jersey, and several species even reproduce in the Jersey Shore's coastal wetlands and back bays.

The seal weighs 57.4 pounds and is believed to have been born last spring, according to the MMSC. He is now resting in the nonprofit's intensive care unit, and rescuers hope he will soon have a "second chance at life in the wild."

Harbor seals can weigh up to 285 pounds and measure up to six feet long. The animal's diet consists of fish, shellfish and crustaceans. Harbor seals "haul out," or rest, on rocks, reefs, beaches and drifting glacial ice when not traveling or foraging. 

The species gathers in New Jersey in October and November and usually stays through March or April. The largest "haul-out" resting site for seals in New Jersey is the Ocean and Atlantic counties' Great Bay. Each winter, hundreds of seals gather there, as well as in Gateway National Recreation Area and Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island.

Over the summer, it was announced that New Jersey's harbor seal population would be tagged and tracked for the first time thanks to a grant gifted to Stockton University from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The project was scheduled to begin this month.

Despite harbor seals' cute and cuddly appearance, people who see the animals while walking along the beach are urged to leave them alone to rest. People and pets should stay at least 150 feet away from seals, according to the MMSC.