Video Shows Adorable Baby Seal Rescued From Manhole On Whidbey Island
By Rebekah Gonzalez
April 30, 2021
A Bellevue College student's dinner with his family was cut short when his grandfather got a call saying his assistance was needed and he needed to bring a big net.
“My grandpa was a vet for many years and is known as a great problem solver around the island, so that’s why he was called,” 23-year-old Alex Hunter said in an email to KOMO News. “His buddy had called him and needed him down at Mutiny Bay because there was a baby elephant seal stuck in a manhole.”
By the time they got there, several community members were trying to help the sea animal out of the manhole.
Police officers, firefighters, and bystanders were hatching a plan as an island EMT received step-by-step instructions on speakerphone from a marine biologist veterinarian. She was on her way but was delayed by the ferry.
Hunter managed to capture the rescue mission on video, which he sent into KOMO News.
“We lowered [the net] down and tried our best to distract the seal while we got the net under him, and after about three attempts of trying to hoist him up we finally got him out of the hole,” said Hunter.
When the baby elephant seal was lifted out, known as Elwood, it was in shock and dehydrated, according to the marine biologist.
According to KOMO News, the seal had swum all the way through a drainage pipe and got stuck in the manhole.