Selkie the Seal, courtesy National Aquarium

Selkie the Seal, courtesy National Aquarium

ASSATEAGUE STATE PARK, Md. — Selkie, a female grey seal pup rescued in February by the Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute (MERR) at Cape Henlopen State Park, has successfully returned to the wild.

After three months of rehabilitation at the National Aquarium, the once-dependent pup is now thriving. The Aquarium says when Selkie was first discovered in February, she was unable to survive on her own. The Aquarium says Selkie was the first patient at its new Stranding Response Center in Ocean City.

On Thursday, Selkie was released at Assateague State Park, greeted by the cheers of the rehabilitation team and park visitors. Selkie was one of many young seals found on the coast this winter, many of whom made successful recoveries. 

If you see a seal resting on the beach or elsewhere, please call MERR right away at 302-228-5029, and keep a distance of 150-feet from the seal.

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Evening Broadcast Journalist

Madeleine has been with Draper Media since 2016, when she first worked as Sussex County Bureau Chief. She helped launch the rebranded CoastTV in 2019. As co-anchor of CoastTV News at 5 and 6, Maddie helps organize the evening newscasts and performs managerial responsibilities such as helping find and assign stories, approving scripts, and making content decisions.

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