Rare seal sighting: Georgia DNR records only third on state record

MCINTOSH COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - A boater off the coast of McIntosh County got to see something many in Georgia would never get to—and he caught it all on camera.

It’s the first seal sighting in the Peach State in years, and only the third on state record.

“When we first saw it, we thought it was a manatee,” said Elliot Hillock, who spotted the seal this week.

Elliot Hillock is a charter boat captain visiting from the Charleston area.

He took a boat out on Blackbeard Creek between Sapelo Island and Blackbeard Island off the coast of McIntosh County.

On both Monday and Tuesday, he saw a marine mammal. He pulled his phone out and started recording.

“It came back up on the surface, and I realized it wasn’t a manatee,” said Hillock.

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Mark Dodd, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, looked at Hillock’s videos and says it’s a grey seal, an unusual sight for Georgia waters.

“Who knows, maybe he’s the great explorer for the seal population. Maybe he’s the Ferdinand Magellan of the grey seal population,” said Mark Dodd, a wildlife biologist with Georgia DNR.

It’s only the third time a seal has been spotted near Georgia in the past 35 years.

“One was back in ‘97 we had a sighting of a harbor seal near Fort McCallister. Then a couple years ago in 2021, we had a sighting in Cumberland Island,” said Dodd.

And this seal appears to have an injury to its back.

“It looks like it’s healing. And it doesn’t appear that it’s affecting the animal’s behavior in any way,” said Dodd.

Dodd says these seals normally live in the northeast, rarely traveling farther south than Massachusetts. They can migrate as far south as North Carolina, but they don’t do so often.

“They’re still considered a very rare winter visitor as far south as North Carolina,” said Dodd.

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Those sightings become even more rare by South Carolina and especially Georgia.

So, how did this seal end up here?

“Younger animals tend to, for a lot of different species, exhibit exploratory behavior. So, sometimes they’re just on the move looking for a new place to feed or forage,” said Dodd.

It’s something Hillock says he won’t soon forget.

“I think it’s pretty neat seeing animals who aren’t normally in this area make their way south. I guess he was looking for warmer weather after our cold snap,” said Hillock.

A welcome guest making memories for visitors to McIntosh County.

Dodd says they don’t plan to intervene with the seal since it appears he is swimming fine.

If you do come across a marine mammal, you should leave it alone.

You can also report any sightings to the Georgia DNR, you can the department by clicking here.