Dying baby seal found in St. Pete

Vets at a St. Petersburg zoo are trying to save a 6-week-old baby seal found in one of the city’s canals on Sunday. The animal spent about a week in the water and, being too weak, wasn’t able to get out on land.

Consequently, it developed pneumonia. Zoo workers are cautions estimating the baby seal’s chances to survive but say they will do their best.

Specialists say abnormally warm weather is to blame for the pour baby’s fate. Sea mammals nurture their newborns on ice floes, which melted too early this year. So, many baby seals found themselves separated from their mothers prematurely. The water flow brought them into St. Petersburg rivers.

The Baltic seal is an extremely rare species. As of 2005, less than 200 inhabited the waters of the Gulf of Finland.