Seal recovering from shark attack — yes, NJ has both in its waters

🐳A harbor seal was likely bitten by a shark and found on an LBI beach

🐳Give a harbor seal space if you see them on a beach

🐳50 dolphins, 17 whales & 4 porpoises stranded on Jersey Shore beaches since Dec. 2022

SURF CITY — A harbor seal found with a large laceration on a Long Beach Island beach Christmas morning capped off a busy year for the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center said their technicians responded to the injured seal in Surf City and found multiple smaller wounds on his abdomen and around his tail. Veterinarians cleaned the wounds, which likely came from a shark bite.

The seal, which weighs 57.4 pounds, is resting in the intensive care unit.

Stress for stranded harbor seals

Harbor seals are not uncommon on beaches in the early winter, according to the MMS. If you spot a seal in distress to stay 150 away from seals and to keep away as not to further stress them out.

What is not common are sea turtles which may be beached because of "cold stunning." Wind and tides may bring them to the shore, according to NOAA Fisheries. The turtles become weak and inactive because of exposure to cold temperatures below 50 degrees.

The MMSC asked anyone who spots a sea turtle on the beach should call their 24-hour hotline at 609-266-0538.

Stranded whales & dolphins cause controversy

It was a busy year for the MMS, which responded to the numerous reports of beached whales and dolphins along the Jersey Shore.

Between December 2022 and December 2023 50 dolphins, 17 whales and four porpoises were found on New Jersey beaches setting up the debate over whether or not work on wind projects was the cause.

Opponents of the projects repeatedly asked Gov. Phil Murphy to order a pause on the work to investigate whether or not there is a connection. Murphy refused calling the request politically motivated and said there is no evidence that limited wind farm construction on the Atlantic Coast has directly resulted in any whale deaths.

Republican congressmen from New Jersey, Maryland and Arizona got the U.S. Government Accountability Office to open an investigation into the offshore wind industry's impacts on commercial fishing and marine life and want a moratorium on projects.

Eight shore towns in Ocean and Atlantic counties have filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection claiming the agency was under pressure from Murphy to approve wind project proposals.

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