I Finally Come to the Aid of a Harp Seal

One-year-old harp seal at Cape Henlopen State Park

When I was in third grade I had to keep a journal for school. I wrote a series of entries on the abuses inflicted upon young harp seals. I must have seen a nature program about how the pups were hunted for their white fur, because I described in detail how they were clubbed to death—I'm a little surprised that my mom didn't get a call from the teacher about the entries.


This past Sunday, M* and I were at my dad's shore house in Delaware when my dad received a call from a neighbor regarding a one-year-old pup that had beached itself at Cape Henlopen State Park. My dad's neighbor volunteers for many marine causes along the Delaware shore, and she was contacted to help guard the seal before it returned to the ocean after a bit of a rest. M* and I convinced my dad to take us over, and we were very thrilled that he humored us. I had no idea that harp seals traveled so far south and that they were solitary animals for most of their lives. When I was eight, I imagined myself having to trek to the Arctic to encounter these fetching animals.

I was a bit worried about the fate of the creature as there were burnt sienna colored marks on the seal's neck and the wildlife specialist, who was present with us at Cape Henlopen, noted that the seal wasn't as hefty (i.e., cigar-shaped) as she'd like. However, a Google search conducted two days later informed me that it had returned to the sea. I also learned that such beachings are not uncommon throughout February.

M*, my dad (trying to exit the shot) and marine wildlife volunteers stay beyond the taped-off safe zone.

And did this experience fulfill my childhood wish to rescue harp seals? Well, I did warn a couple who was heading over to the cordoned off area, set-up to protect the seal, to leash their dog. If a dog did approach or bark at the seal, the seal could experience undue stress or even attack the dog if it felt threatened. Not exactly the dramatic rescue my young mind imagined, but it's more than I thought I'd do when I reexamined this dream during my pragmatic and, too often, cynical adult years.

One-Year-Old Harp Seal at Cape Henlopen