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Adorable Upper West Side Visitor Spotted at Boat Basin

2008_01_sealuws.jpgTo be a young harbor seal taking some time from swimming to sun! A young seal was seen hanging out at the 79th Street Boast Basin yesterday morning the Parks Department.

Sergeant Rakeem Taylor told City Room, "He was moving around pretty fine, yawning and sunning himself," and estimated the seal to be "3 to 4 feet long and about 90 pounds." Taylor said that the seal's appearance means the Hudson is clean enough for him (or her) to fish her, “It’s not that unusual, but we don’t usually get a chance to see them. It’s about as unusual as getting the occasional coyote.”

Well, we haven't heard of coyotes since 2006, when one visited Central Park and another was spotted in Van Cortlandt Park. Seals, on the other hand (or flipper), have been spotted everywhere from the Gowanus Canal to Battery Park, not to mention the seals off the coast of South Beach.

And of course you can see seals at local zoos, like the Central Park Zoo, where rescued seals Herbie and Seven live.

Photograph from the NY Times

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Comments [rss]

  • Think2wice

    Re #3:

    Hawks looking down their noses at us on 5th Ave. Beavers in the Bronx. BEAVERS!?!

    Forget gentrification now it's wilderness reclamation. Jeebus.

  • Elderta

    Actually, the Hudson and East Rivers are the cleanest that they've been in two centuries. Hopefully, with even more concerted effort, they'll get cleaner. We do need to keep working at it, though, Gowanus and Newton Creek are still crappy at this point.

  • Amanda Harletsch

    Is it too fantastic to expect people to be more rigurous about cleaning the environment?

    Poor seal, swimming in the houdson waters.

    Time to clean up people!!!

  • emilydickinson

    The seal in the Gowanus became the monster in Cloverfield I think. Now where's my club? I know I left it around the office somewhere...

  • drewo

    bah - I remember the nasty old New York City when wild animals were afraid to visit! Now every hipster coyote, owl and seal is coming this way!

  • JRod5417

    As cute as this story is, I hope this poor seal doesn't get pcb poisoning.

  • akachris

    Did the seal spotted in the Gowanus Canal survive?

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