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07/21/2017 08:49 AMOn July 20, two Branford residents taking a boat ride came back to shore with the carcass of a large, dead seal, found in waters off Faulkner's Island in neighboring Guilford. The two found the deceased animal totally intact and believe it weighs between 400 to 500 pounds. On July 21, Mystic Aquarium representatives identified it as a mature Grey seal and collected the seal's remains with assistance from local volunteers. A necropsy may be undertaken as well as other examinations, said a Mystic press representative.
The seal was first recovered by Kamran Farid and Kenny Wynne, who hauled the carcass onto their small outboard and took it back Branford waters on July 20.
"We were driving over to Faulkner's, because there is a rather large population of seals over there, and on our way back toward shore we saw one floating. We took a look at it and realized there was no damage to it, which made us believe there might be something else to be a cause for investigation," Wynne told Zip06/The Sound.
Farid, founder of Branford non-profit Kamran Farid Foundation, reached out to Mystic to inform the group of the finding.
"Everyone involved is very concerned about what this might suggest about the health of Long Island Sound, and will be anxiously awaiting the results of the necropsy," said Anna Balakrishnan, Foundation Director, Kamran Farid Foundation.
At about 2 p.m. on July 21, interns with Mystic Aquarium's animal recovery program were directed to Pine Orchard Yacht & Country Club, where dock staff assisted by bringing in the seal carcass from its location at a mooring buoy floating several yards offshore. The busy Mystic crew had spent the morning rescuing and releasing a small Grey seal (about six months old/60 pounds) found tangled in fishing gear in another area of Long Island Sound. The earlier rescue put the Mystic team in Branford at low tide, and that created a challenge when it came to hauling the deceased seal to shore.
With assistance from Marcello LaGrecca, Connor Paleski, Alex King and Dock Master Spencer Rentas, the seal carcass was floated and otherwise hauled into a small channel area, which had less a foot of water running in a narrow stream. It took about half an hour to maneuver the seal from the float to a point in the channel where the club's boat hauling apparatus could be used to raise the carcass into the bed of the recovery team's pick-up truck. Mystic Aquarium liaison Dale Wolbrink told The Sound it would take at least a day to process any information regarding what researchers may undertake or any other findings from their observations.
In quite a coincidence, Wynn and Farid were at Mystic Aquarium as the recovery operation was underway in Branford, for a meeting that the foundation had been previously scheduled with Mystic President and CEO Stephen M. Coan, Ph.D. The meeting was set to discuss ways the foundation could become more involved in supporting efforts of Mystic Aquarium, Wynne noted, adding Farid "... looked at this as kind of sign...he's going to look into more initiatives" to assist the aquarium's programming.
In another twist, this marks the second time in two years Wynne has been involved in discovering and recovering a notable marine animal carcass turned over to Mystic for examination. Last summer, Wynne, King and Rentas found and retrieved a mature dolphin carcass which was decayed and floating in the nearby Thimble Islands. See the story here