In late July, the stranding team from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine returned a group of six male juvenile grey seals to the ocean from a quiet beach in a wildlife refuge. Included in the rehabilitated release group were seals found in Holgate and North Beach Haven – both southern sections of Long Beach Island – this past April.

HEADED HOME: Six male juvenile grey seals, including this one, are released back to the ocean on the same day following their rehabilitation stints at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, N.J. Two of the six seals had been found on Long Beach Island beaches in April.  (Photos by Justin Turner)

The four other patients were rescues from Island Beach State Park, Mantoloking and Ocean City.