It has approached the shore of the island of La Graciosa, but shortly after, it has returned to the sea. It is a hooded seal, which has probably become disoriented, because its species lives in the seas of Greenland and northern Canada. According to the Environment officers of the Cabildo, they spotted the cetacean this Thursday morning, which could be injured, a situation that would lead to the seal being taken out of the water and sent to the Tafira Wildlife Recovery Center to be cared for.
Since its sighting, Environment personnel are monitoring its evolution by means of a surveillance boat as well as from land. In the event that it returns to the shore, it would be rescued and transferred to the Gran Canaria center in a box from La Graciosa to Lanzarote and from here to Gran Canaria by plane.
This seal could be the same one that was seen a few days ago in the waters of El Cotillo, in Fuerteventura, and that could not be captured, according to the director of the Cetacean Museum of the Canary Islands, Vidal Martín, who assured that some young specimens of this species can become disoriented and reach the Cantabrian Sea or even, as in this case, the waters of the Canary Islands.
Two years ago, the Tafira Wildlife Recovery Center saved the lives of two hooded seals that had shark attacks and were in very poor condition. The specimen sighted in La Graciosa could be in this situation.
