BOSTON (WHDH) - Shoebert the seal, who temporarily made himself at home in Beverly’s Shoe Pond last month, can’t seem to stay away from the Bay State: he is back near the North Shore after a relocation.
According to Sarah Callan, the Mystic Aquarium’s vice president of external relations, Shoebert’s satellite tag has most recently pinged “just off the North Shore.”
Shoebert hung out in the Beverly pond for weeks, to the delight of local spectators, and the frustration of wildlife crews, who tried in vain to capture him several times until he waddled to the police station and “turned himself in.”
As 7NEWS previously reported, Beverly’s favorite, formerly rogue seal was then taken to Mystic Aquarium for observation before he was released on Block Island, Rhode Island on Sept. 27. But the 4-year-old marine mammal had been to Mystic before.
“So, back in 2018, he was with us for about two to three months, and was released in Rhode Island,” Callan said. “He is a feisty, feisty male seal… to be honest, any wild seal is going to be feisty, especially when they are scared.”
Callan said that, when he was released on Block Island, Shoebert spent a while exploring the area before swimming toward the Rhode Island mainland, where he explored the inlets and bays along the shoreline. He appears to be following the travel pattern of several other seals heading north.
“We typically see seals stop by Cape Cod and Massachusetts before heading up north as far as Maine and Canada, so it will be interesting to see where Shoebert goes next on his journey,” Callan said.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)