Baby seal found stranded on CT street dies ‘surrounded by love,’ What killed him?

A seal pup that was found stranded has died, and now rescuers have a cause of death, Connecticut officials said.

The gray seal, later coined with the name Chappy, entered the Mystic Aquarium’s Animal Rescue Clinic on Feb. 16 after being found stranded on the streets of New Haven, according to a Facebook post by the aquarium.

At first, Chappy was showing mostly signs of dehydration, malnutrition and pneumonia and was responding well to treatment, but his health started to decline after officials introduced whole fish into his diet, causing digestive problems, rescuers with the Mystic-based aquarium said.

His gastrointestinal condition became too severe, and he eventually died, officials said.

After personnel conducted a necropsy, they learned Chappy had mesenteric torsion, which is when the intestines are twisted, cutting off blood supply to a majority of the gastrointestinal tract, officials said.

This condition is “challenging” to diagnose but also has a “poor prognosis,” rescuers said.

Although not correlated with his immediate cause of death, pieces of plastic were found in Chappy’s stomach, “highlighting the threat that marine debris, especially plastics, poses to marine animals,” the Facebook post said.

Gray seals live from 25 to 35 years and gather in big groups to mate, with females being pregnant for 11 months before giving birth to a pup that usually weighs about 35 pounds, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Gray seal babies, which are very vocal and can sound like a human baby crying, quickly start to gain three pounds a day from their thick blubber layer, the NOAA said.

Staff with Mystic Aquarium said they were proud of being able to “give Chappy the best chance possible” despite the outcome and that he was “surrounded by love until the very end,” personnel said.

Mystic is about a 60-mile drive east of New Haven.

This story was originally published March 4, 2025 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Baby seal found stranded on CT street dies ‘surrounded by love,’ What killed him?."