NewsLocal News

Actions

National Aquarium welcomes a new Seal pup

Eloise | Grey Seal  | February 16, 2021
Posted at 11:34 AM, Mar 02, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-02 12:07:49-05

BALTIMORE, md. — The National Aquarium welcomed a new grey seal pup. Her name is Eloise, in keeping with the naming theme of famous storybook characters.

Eloise the seal was rescued from Cape Henlopen and arrived to the National Aquarium on Valentine's Day.

Due to Eloise’s young age, she is still considered maternally-dependent pup, meaning that if she were in her natural habitat, she would be relying on her mother for milk. Therefore, her rehabilitation is focused on teaching her how to eat fish—a skill that she normally would learn from her mother.

Caretakers say Eloise is doing well with fishing and enjoys swimming.

“Pippi and Eloise are unique cases for the Mid-Atlantic because they have stranded when they are still young enough to be maternally-dependent,” said Jennifer Dittmar, director of animal rescue at the National Aquarium. “There could be many reasons for this to be happening including storms, a human interaction that scared off the mom, maternal instincts that haven’t kicked in or birthing complications.”