Willingboro residents catch rare glimpse of seal in Rancocas Creek

WILLINGBORO, N.J. (WPVI) -- People in Burlington County, New Jersey are buzzing about a rare seal sighting along one quiet creek. A couple in Willingboro saw the animal on their very own dock and captured the moments.

"My neighbor's at the front door and he says, 'there's a seal on your dock.'"

Last weekend, still in his pajamas, Michael Castagne of Willingboro looked in his backyard on the Rancocas Creek and indeed, there it was: a big, fat harbor seal sunning on the end of his dock.

He snapped a picture of the seal. It's grainy because he stayed far away from his surprise visitor.

Michael tells us, "Just looking around and was hanging there and they're so ungainly on land. I mean, their fins and everything barely touch the ground they're so fat."

Still, the seal had a lovely day on Castagne's dock.

"It spent, I guess, two or three hours in the morning, and then went in the water and then came back in the afternoon," he said.

The big question is, what is a seal doing in freshwater 30 or 40 miles upriver from the mouth of the Delaware Bay?

Bob Schoelkopf explains, "We think the animal found a hot spot, found a lot of food, and that's why it relaxed up there."

Schoelkopf runs the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine and handles sick and injured seals regularly.

Schoelkopf thinks the seal was definitely looking for dinner.

"It came up the Delaware, probably following herring that actually migrate into fresh water this time of year to spawn," he said.

The seal hasn't been seen since Saturday. It may have headed down creek by now, but it's the first time in about a decade anyone has even heard of a harbor seal being this north, and that's caused quite a stir.

Resident Lise Castagne says, "I loved seeing it. I never thought I would see it here. So I was delighted."

Federal law prohibits contact with these animals, so if you see one, enjoy it from afar the way the Castagnes did.