Last Friday, during the annual maintenance closure of the Ballard Locks, a harbor seal was discovered to be trapped in the empty large lock chamber. Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked in collaboration with marine mammal experts at the National Marine Fisheries Service to safely remove the seal from the lock chamber.
Corps fish biologists use strobe lights to help move marine life out of the chamber before it is closed for pump out operations. The seal was in the area and seen by biologists during the strobe operations at 3:24 a.m. last Friday morning.
According to officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, plenty of flounder, perch and other small fish were available for the seal to eat until the seal could be safely removed. A large wooden structure was also placed in the empty chamber so that the seal could rest.
Check out some photos of the rescue, that took place on Monday morning, below:
Photos courtesy of Hiram Chittenden Locks Facebook Page.
