Using a small knife to cut through the mass of green ropes, the man was eventually able to free the animal.

The fisherman then lowered the seal gently into the water.

“There you go, buddy,” Willey said before he lowered the seal into the water. The seal popped its head up to look at its surroundings before diving and swimming away.

Harbor seals in this region are born during April and May and nurse for four to six weeks, meaning the young seal had likely just weaned from its mother.

Getting caught in fishing nets can be a big problem for seals. They often becomes victims of what is known as bycatch, or the accidental capture of marine creatures while fishing.

Harbor seals, along with other seal species and cetaceans, are protected in the U.S. under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The act places caps on allowable bycatch and offers guidelines for conservation techniques.


According to the National Bycatch Report compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 2008 to 2014, roughly 880 seals were caught as bycatch in the northeastern region.