Crews rescue abandoned seal pup, so young its umbilical cord was still attached

An abandoned seal pup got stuck in the surf of Old Orchard Beach in Maine on Tuesday. The seal was able to make its way onto land, but struggled to wiggle across the sand.

When officials found the baby seal underneath a pier, it still had its umbilical cord attached, WGME reports. A crew from the Marine Mammals of Maine came to rescue the beached newborn.

Lyndsay Golzbein, who works on the nearby pier, saw the seal rescue as she walked on the beach and she immediately began filming. The rescue crew at first tried to return the seal to the ocean, Golzbein told CBS News. However, the seal had trouble swimming. The seal pup “went into a sort of shock and wasn’t swimming, just kind of rolling around with the waves,” Golzbein said.

The seal wound up beaching again, Golzbein said, so the rescue crew picked it up again and put it safely in a kennel.

The Marine Mammals of Maine crew put caution tape around the area and warned residents to avoid touching a baby seal, WGME reports.

Marine Mammals of Maine dedicates much of its time rescuing abandoned seals. This weekend, the organization had four seals in its care, according to a Facebook post. The organization also monitors seals in the wild. It is unclear if this seal was eventually returned to the sea or if it remains in the care of Marine Mammals of Maine.