BRIGANTINE--A young seal is now recovering after having potentially life-saving surgery over the weekend. It was all thanks to some generous, skilled people who donated their time and services.



They're prepping a patient unlike any other they've worked on, for a surgery that could ultimately save her life. "The only other choice we had was to possibly euthanize that animal," said Bob Schoelkopf, Director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. The 9 month-old gray seal went under the knife Saturday, but has been at the Stranding Center since March, when it was rescued from a Manasquan beach. "Looked like she may've been grabbed by a shark, both rear flippers had puncture wounds in them." Wounds that were deeper than they initially thought. Turns out a fractured, infected bone was the problem, a problem that was removed thanks to the potentially life-saving procedure.



For surgeon Laura Culbert from NorthStar Vets, the two-hour surgery on a seal was a first. "It was a little bit more difficult than I thought," said Culbert, "the skin and tissues are a little bit tougher than a typical dog or cat." Both Culbert and veterinary anesthesiologist Lin Klein from the University of Pennsylvania donated their time and skills for the operation. "That's very helpful to us," said Schoelkopf, "we're on a very tight budget, being nonprofit and to have a surgeon come down, you're looking at probably thousands of dollars of time here."



The seal is still recovering, something they're monitoring very closely, but they won't know for several weeks if she'll eventually be able to be released back into the wild. "The concern is her ability to swim using that flipper," Schoelkopf explained. But officials say at this point the prognosis is good, and believe the procedure performed by a kind-hearted surgeon was a success. "She did an outstanding job, we'll recommend her to any seal in the area."



Marine Mammal Stranding Center officials say surgery there is a rarity, and are hoping the seal makes a full recovery. If she's unable to be released into the wild, they say they'll try to place her in an aquatic park somewhere.


Source: http://www.nbc40.net/news/19711/