In March, a young spotted seal rescued off the coast of Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, has returned to nature after about three months of intensive treatment.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries noted, “The young spotted seal that was rescued off the coast of Yangyang County on March 27 was released near Sacheonjin Beach in Gangneung on the 25th.”
Spotted seals were designated as a marine protected species in 2006, giving birth in winter in the Bohai Sea in China and the drifting sea ice of Vladivostok, Russia, and migrating south. They are primarily found along Korea's eastern coast or at Baengnyeongdo and Garolim Bay from spring to late autumn.
The spotted seal released this time showed no significant external injuries at the time of rescue, but was too weak to escape from humans. Its body length reached about 110 cm, but its weight was only 12.4 kg, indicating severe dehydration and nutritional deficiency.
The spotted seal was transferred the day after its rescue to Seoul Grand Park, a designated marine animal rescue and treatment facility of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. It quickly regained stability and, through consistent feeding and rehabilitation training, increased its weight by about 20 kg, recovering its health.
A unique identification tag marked with the number ‘L0283’ was attached to the left hind leg of the individual. According to the tracking investigation by the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea (MABIK), it was confirmed to be an individual born in a protected marine area in the Russian Far East and released on March 6.
Ahn Yong-rak, head of the Marine Biodiversity Division at the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea (MABIK), emphasized, “This is the first empirical evidence that a young spotted seal born in Russia is utilizing the East Sea coast, which has great academic value.”
The government attached a satellite tracking device to the individual upon release to collect scientific data on the migratory routes of spotted seals in the East Sea. The individual moved 15 km to the north the day after its release, showing active movements in the open sea. The government plans to continuously monitor the movements of this individual with the device attached for six months.
Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kang Do-hyung stated, “We will actively support marine animal rescue and treatment facilities to expand the rapid rescue and treatment of injured marine animals, and we will do our utmost to restore marine biodiversity and ecosystem conservation through the designation of marine protected areas, artificial propagation of protected marine species, and natural releases.”