Seal Makes a Wrong Turn in Arctic Ocean, Visits Southland

Southern California beaches attract all kinds of visitors during the summer.

But this week, a special visitor from out of town--way out of town--arrived at Silver Strand beach in Coronado. That visitor is a 275-pound, 6-foot-long hooded seal--one of a breed that makes its home only on the coasts of Greenland and northeastern Canada--and her appearance here has local marine scientists perplexed.

Since Monday, Sea World officials have had their hands full with the uninvited guest, who snapped at her handlers and turned up her snout at the first offerings of Sea World fare.

The park officials could hardly turn her away, however, since she apparently swam 8,000 to 12,000 miles before beaching herself.

“How she got here boggles the mind,” said Jim Antrim, Sea World’s senior curator for marine mammals. “No one has ever heard of one being found on the West Coast of America.”

Hooded seals are distinguishable by their large size, unusual markings and, in males, bulbous noses that flare out when the animals are agitated, Antrim said.

Although the female seal has all the telltale characteristics, park officials could hardly believe their eyes when they responded to a telephone call after the animal was sighted around noon Monday.

“I think she probably got here on her own,” Antrim said. “The animal must have been exhausted.”

At first, the seal refused to eat and appeared to have an infection. But she has adjusted to the California lifestyle quite well, Antrim said.

“She seems to be in pretty good shape to be so far out of her range,” Antrim said.

Hooded seals do have a history of wandering. Some have been sighted as far south as Florida and as far east as Portugal. Still, such trips are only 2,000 to 3,000 miles out of the animals’ natural habitat, Antrim said.

To reach Pacific waters, this seal would have to swim across the Arctic Ocean, through the Northwest Passage and through the Bering Strait, Antrim said.

“I cannot believe that it swam through the Panama Canal,” Antrim said.