Lost young seal spotted swimming around Utrecht canal

A lost young seal swimming around in the Merwede Canal in Utrecht drew quite a few spectators on Monday afternoon. Dozens of people lined the canal to catch a glimpse of the seal. The municipality estimates the pup to be around three months old and urged people to leave it alone.

“We are delighted to welcome a very special new resident of Utrecht,” the municipality wrote on Instagram. At around three months old, the pup can manage perfectly well on its own, the municipality said. “So leave it alone, don’t feed it, and enjoy it from a distance.”

According to ANP, the spectators along the canal were also urging each other and passersby to be quiet and calm, hoping that the animal would come closer and they could get a better look.

This is not the first seal to visit the Utrecht canals. In 2015, the police rescued a seal from the Oudegracht and took it to a seal sanctuary in Stellendam. The animal was released back into the North Sea near Texel a short time later.