Increased seal encounters leading to more seals in rehabilitation centers

((BRUNSWICK)) -- The Marine Mammals of Maine Executive Director Lynda Doughty says her facility is currently taking care of about half a dozen baby seals.

"They're all around the age of 1," she said. "Most of these cases that we have in house today are animals from human interaction cases."

This Summer she says there have been an increasing number of rescues, mainly due to human interaction.

"What ends up happening is really well meaning people start to intervene with these animals that are trying to rest," she said. "Handling wildlife is not the best thing. These animals can bite at this age."

According to marine mammal experts, seals are appearing on beaches across Southern Maine because the young seals have hit the age where they start to explore the waters on their own, and occasionally need to stop and rest.

"We start to see animals that are coming and going a lot more frequently on the beaches because they're hulling out to rest, and then they're going back in," Doughty said.

Seals that do end up the beach should be avoided by beachgoers. Doughty says even small human interactions can end up harming the animal.

"[This seal] was frequenting different beaches along the coast of Southern Maine, and every time he went to haul out, he got pushed back in by people, or people were intervening," she said. "If we have repeated human contact or just people being near the animal it can cause a lot of stress, and sometimes those animals will not make it because of stress overtime."

People on East End Beach in Portland today say they're surprised the increased number of seal interactions has led to more seals in rehabilitation.

"It's worrisome that people will get too close and irritate them," Portland resident Sue Taylor said.

"They're in their natural habitat, and I think you should just leave them alone," Portland resident Rick DeFilipp said.

Marine Mammals of Maine has already responded to 120 marine mammal rescues this year, which they say is a significant increase from last year during the same period of time.

Doughty says anyone who comes across a seal on the beach is encouraged to call their hotline: 1-800-532-9551.