A Brooklyn Seal's Trick: Surviving the Gowanus

NY Times ^ | July 2, 2003 | PATRICK HEALY

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Pretty soon, a 1-year-old harp seal that became the talk of Red Hook is expected to paddle onto Long Island Sound, leaving behind its celebrity in Brooklyn for a life of anonymity in open waters.

For years, runners and fishermen have reported glimpsing just such a seal sliding through the Gowanus Canal and its nearby bay. Many scoffed at the sightings, saying the water was too polluted to support anything but sea gulls and a few hardy fish, but the sightings and stories persisted.

One woman even offered a cash reward for proof — $100 for the first photograph of the seal.

That proof came on April 8, when. John Quadrozzi Jr., president of Gowanus Industrial Park, walked in the shadows of a defunct grain terminal that looms beside the Henry Street Basin in Brooklyn. Mr. Quadrozzi and a contractor were examining recent renovations to the pier when they noticed a bruise on the calm water.

They paid the ripples little heed until a whiskered head emerged. It paddled through the water as Mr. Quadrozzi and his companion stared into the bay, amazed.

"It's surprising enough to find fish here," Mr. Quadrozzi said. "The last thing you'd expect to see is a seal."

Word spread quickly.

David Sharps, president of the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook, said he had only seen herons, ducks and other bird species on the canal. So when he heard the seal had been found, he called his two daughters and brought them to see.

"They didn't believe me at first," Mr. Sharps said. "They said: `What? You're kidding!' We were certainly intrigued, you know, just in its unusualness."

In fact, harp seals have become a more common sight on Long Island during the past decade, said Rob DiGiovanni, senior biologist of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research, where the seal was taken. It is being treated for dehydration and a nasty case of worms.

Such seals are natives of the North Atlantic and Arctic, but scientists believe a growing population — and shifts in climate and food sources — have pushed populations farther south.

Of the 57 stranded animals that were reported to the Riverhead Foundation this year, 26 have been harp seals. But the 80 percent of those are found on the eastern portion of the island, away from New York City, Mr. DiGiovanni said.

"They have a reputation for popping up in all sorts of strange places," said Greg Early, a marine biologist who has worked extensively with seal populations in the Northeast.

Few places seem less accommodating to a seal than the Gowanus Canal, one of the last vestiges of New York's industrial waterfront. The Gowanus waterway is lined with a cement terminal, oil storage tanks and construction barges. Yesterday afternoon, algae clouded the water, whiffs of garbage floated on the breeze, and backhoes dipped their necks into the bay, like herons looking for dinner.

"It's pretty disgusting," Mr. Quadrozzi said.

Biologists said they would probably never know whether conditions in the Gowanus contributed to the seal's malnutrition, dehydration and parasites.

Shortly after it surfaced, the seal clambered out of the water and made its way over broken asphalt and glass. Mr. Quadrozzi said he could tell the seal was hurt. Blood was smeared across the seal's muzzle, and it lay on its side in the snow, with steam streaming off its skin. It munched a little snow and languidly waved a flipper that was tattooed with lesions.

But after more than two months recuperating at the Riverhead Foundation, the seal has gained weight and swims around its tank with renewed energy. It will be released in the next two weeks, Mr. DiGiovanni said.

The community has grown attached. Before the seal is turned loose, the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation will adopt it and name it Gowanda, despite the objections of Mr. Quadrozzi, who said Gowanda is a ludicrous name for a seal. He prefers Henry.

Theo Christodoulides, who operates the nearby Court Cafe, wants to post a picture of the seal on his restaurant's walls, and he is planning a seafood special featuring "whatever the seal would eat" named after the seal.

There have even been stories of a second seal swimming around the canal, but Mr. Christodoulides is skeptical.

"Maybe it's a fisherman's story," he said.

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We may have to get Batboy to investigate.

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I think you three need to get a room.

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....room for one more!

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Only if Clemenza promises to bring some of his famous cannolis.

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Clemenza's Cannolis- You could take that 2 ways, you know!

Here's MY* famous monicotti recipe:
makes 12-16
Combine 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk, 3 eggs, S-P and mix.blend until smooth. In a 9" fying pan add 1/4 cup of batter and heat on a medium/low flame. Turn each shell once when bubbles form.

The filling:
Combine 2 cups ricotta cheese and half a block of grated mozzarella cheese, 1 egg, s-p and parsley. Mix well and chill.

Add 2 spoons of filling into the center of each shell. Roll each shell so the seam is down and place in a layer of suace in a casserole dish. Top with sauce, cover with foil. Bake 35 minutes at 350 F.


A quick sauce:

I big can of crushed tomatoes. 1 small can of paste, 1 small can of water, half a packet of sweet n low, a good splash of olive oil, parsley, s-p, and garlic. Simmer down to a sauce, turning frequently. (diced onions, peppers, capers, optional.) for a meat sauce add some blanched suasage or beef or a can of clams)


* Thanks to my Mom and Grandma Rosetti!

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see 45!