In what might hold the record as “Longest release in MARC history”, Yesterday’s Release of Udon and Junior Mint was a total success. An estimated 100 people came to give the seals a great send-off. While Udon (the harbor seal) was quick to bolt to the water, his counterpart Junior Mint (the harp seal) was a tad hesitant – taking well over 40 minutes to make her way to the water.
Harp seals are typically an animal that, at the earliest sign of threat, “play possum” or become “catatonic” – freezing their whole body as a line of defense to trick their “threat” (in this case, dozens of excited witnesses on the beach) into leaving them alone. It is a completely normal and expected behavior for harp seals, though, sometimes, it can make the releases a little lengthier. Junior Mint was a bit nervous with all of yesterday’s excitement and rather than fleeing the scene quickly, she exhibited the typically harp seal catatonic behavior.
Junior Mint "playing possum" - Catatonic Behavior is normal for harp seals.
Here are a couple photos to recap the event. To see the full album, check out our album on facebook.
- Udon heads to the shore.
Junior Mint slowly making her way to the sea