On The Beach

An injured female harbor seal was rescued by the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation on Nov. 12. An East Hampton Town police officer spotted the young seal on the beach east of Napeague Lane, Amagansett.

Dr. Robert Pisciotta of the North Fork Animal Hospital treated the 30-pound seal, which was probably born in May or June in the New England area, for abscessed wounds, a respiratory infection, and several fractured ribs. It was reported in guarded condition.

The Riverhead Foundation, which conducts New York State's marine mammal and stranding program, recovered about 120 seals last year. Last week's injured seal was the first of the 1997-98 count. Thirty-two seals were sighted hauled out on the rocks by Oyster Pond, Montauk, Friday morning.

On Saturday, Kim Durham, director of the stranding program, traveled to Montauk to retrieve a green turtle, about 2 or 3 years old, found dead on the beach at Fort Pond Bay. During its autopsy a small microchip with a serial number, known as a "pit tag," was discovered. The chip has been sent to the Southeast Fisheries Laboratory in Florida, which will have a record of where the turtle was tagged.