IIRC it was an Orca (killer whale). The do-gooders had given the seal a name and there were all these school kids out to watch the release. It was pretty gruesome; I think the whale threw the seal up into the air and then chomped it when it fell back into it's mouth.
It was nursed back to health after the Exxon Valdez incident. Marching band, politicians, Sierra Club and PETA on hand to watch nature in action.