BIDDEFORD — A harp seal pup rescued off the coast of Maine is being rehabilitated at the University of New England Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center in Biddeford.
The pup was born in a cove in Sprucehead. It was rescued by the Maine Department of Marine Resources on Feb. 23.
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Normally, harp seals give birth on ice floes off the Canadian coastline. Marine scientists are trying to determine whether the birth in Maine was a sign of global climate change or a natural expansion of harp seals into Maine.
Juvenile and adult harp seals have been increasingly common on Maine shores in the winter months in recent years.
The February ice cover in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence has tied with 2005 for a record low which suggests the preferred birthing location for the seals is much smaller, said Charles Tilburg, assistant professor at the Department of Marine Sciences.
“It would make sense that they would tend to seek out other locations for birthing,” Tilberg said.
The pup was rescued 14 hours after birth. The mother swam away and did not return.
This is the first baby harp seal to be rescued by Maine marine officials and the first to be rehabilitated at UNE.
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