Seal Takes a Nap in the Middle of the Road

So, why did the baby seal cross the road? To take a nap, of course.

This week, a young gray seal picked a rather risky spot to doze off—right in the middle of a busy road on Long Beach Island, Jersey Shore.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Robert Burnaford, the Police Chief of Harvey Cedars.

The female seal, estimated to be between 6 to 8 weeks old, appeared early Tuesday morning, settling down for a snooze. A concerned passerby spotted her and quickly dialed the police.

“She made quite the trek—she crossed three lanes of traffic just to reach Long Beach Boulevard,” Burnaford noted. “That’s quite a journey.”

A police officer, alongside a member from the local Department of Public Works, carefully relocated the unexpected visitor to a safer area away from the road.

They reached out to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC), which hurried to the scene and took the little seal to their care facility in Brigantine.

MMSC examined the seal and found her uninjured but, unfortunately, “very emaciated,” weighing only 34.8 pounds.

“She’s underweight; ideally, she should be around 50-60 pounds,” they explained. “That’s mainly why she’s with us now. If all goes well, she should be with us for about eight weeks before being released back into the wild.”

They’ve been treating her with a special fish-rich formula to help her gain weight, and she seems to be resting well, though still alert.

“While it’s not common to find a seal on a road, we do get several calls each year about seals wandering into parking lots, backyards, and other residential areas,” MMSC shared in a Facebook update.

Apparently, gray seal pups have a tendency to stray off course while attempting to find their way back to the ocean.

This particular seal might not have grasped how to fend for herself after getting separated from her mother. Gray seals typically nurse for just about two weeks before becoming totally independent, weighing between 30 and 35 pounds at birth.

Burnaford remarked on how fortunate the seal was to avoid being hit. “We’re really relieved no one ran into her. It’s a reminder for drivers to stay vigilant; you never know what you might find on the road,” he said.