Going To My First Mystic Aquarium Public Seal Release

On May 21, 2025, I went to my first public seal release done by Mystic Aquarium. This is an event where Mystic Aquarium allows the public to watch as they release rehabilitated seals back into their natural habitat. This was their first public seal release of the season and they were releasing six seals. This particular seal release was in Westerly, Rhode Island. As soon as I saw the event posted on Mystic Aquarium’s social media, I knew I had to go!

Getting There

I’ve known about the aquarium doing public seal releases, but unfortunately, I’d never been able to go due to work. However, I’ve recently went back to freelancing, which meant I was able to take the time to experience this event even though it was on a Wednesday morning!

From seeing posts about previous seal releases, I knew that this event was going to be PACKED. So, I decided I was going to get there extremely early. The seal release was at 9am, but I left my house way before that to ensure I got there without any issues. The last seal release, traffic was so backed up that many people attended the event got stuck in traffic and even the seals were late!

Since I love Westerly, I decided I was going to stop at a coffee shop on my way to the beach where the release was going to happen. A friend of mine recommended Stick + Fin in Westerly, which I had somehow never been to. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I usually will grab a hot chocolate and a baked good or egg sandwich. I’ll be honest, Stick + Fin didn’t have anything that I was really interested in, so I grabbed a cinnamon bun and that was it. The shop itself was super cute and they had some outdoor seating along the Pawcatuck River, which was cool!

After I left Stick + Fin, I headed to my favorite coffee shop, Junk & Java, which is literally just up the street from Stick + Fin. I grabbed myself a hot chocolate with a splash of vanilla before heading on my way. Since it was so early in the morning, that was probably the least packed that I’ve seen that place. If I had more time, I would have definitely sat in there and enjoyed my hot chocolate.

I ended up getting to the beach at 7:30am, an hour and a half before the event was supposed to start. Aside from the staff and volunteers for the event, I was quite literally the first one there! They didn’t even have the signs for parking set up yet, but thankfully someone working the event told me where to park. I spent a little bit in my car before heading out to the beach to enjoy my hot chocolate. It was cold and windy, so I wasn’t trying to go stand out on the beach for an hour and a half.

Getting Ready For The Event

After I finished my hot chocolate, I decided to head out to the beach because I saw some other people starting to arrive and heading to the beach. These people were smart and brought beach chairs with them. I didn’t, but next time, I will probably remember to bring a chair of some sort for comfort!

Since I got there so early, I was able to pick where I wanted to stand because everything was wide open. One of the volunteers said that there really was no bad spot because they were going to be spreading the six seals they were releasing across the beach. This was to try to ensure that everyone was able to see the seals make their way back into the ocean! I ultimately ended up picking a spot right in the middle. This ended up being a good move because I was right between two seals!

As more people started to show up, I was glad that I got there early. There were people fighting for spots and trying to fight their way up to the rope barrier. I had a front row seat. The event organizers asked us people who were in the front to duck or squat down if we were able bodied to allow for people behind us to see. I obviously complied and ended up sitting on the ground to be considerate. There were about 1000 people who showed up for this event.

Before the event started, they did some education. Most of seals that they rescued were from Block Island. The seals had been entangled in fishing nets and sustained injuries from that. If the fishing nets are tangled around their mouth, it prevents them from eating. It’s a very serious matter. They had pictures of the seals they were releasing that day when they were first rescued and it was so sad to see. I learned during this event that it costs $10,000 to rehabilitate one seal. The work that Mystic Aquarium’s Animal Rescue Program does to help these marine mammals is so important.

The Release

The seals arrived about ten minutes before they were scheduled to be released. They arrived in large carriers. The volunteers and event staff helped to spread them out across the beach.

They released the seals one at a time. As the seals were released, children were chanting as the seals made their way towards the ocean. As soon as the seals made it to the water, cheers rang out through the crowd. It was a great experience getting to see the seals being released back into their natural habitat!

I was lucky enough to be very close to two of the seals being released. However, since I was on the ground, there were times where my view was completely blocked by the volunteers and staff members of the event. But when people were not in my way, I was pretty much level with the seals being released, which was super cool!

Is It Worth Going To A Public Seal Release?

If you don’t mind crowds, yes! Not only do you get to be pretty close to seals, but it is also really heartwarming to see these seals get returned to their homes after being rehabilitated. The Mystic Aquarium’s Animal Rescue Team puts a lot of time and effort into saving these marine mammals and it’s amazing to see their hard work pay off. And when you think about how not every seal they rescue is able to be saved, it makes it really makes you appreciate seeing the seals returning back to the ocean that much more.

If you’re interested in seeing one of their public seal releases, be sure to follow them on social media. I found out about this seal release via Facebook because they had posted about it and made a Facebook event on their Facebook page. You can also sign up to receive emails from them for other upcoming events.

Don’t forget, you can also visit the actual aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut!

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