A stranded seal could be repatriated back to his home shores with the assistance of the US Coast Guard.

Staff at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo (BAMZ) are hopeful an arrangement can be made for an airlift operation to take the harbour seal home, as early as next week.

Dr. Ian Walker says talks are currently underway with the US Coast Guard for a Hercules aircraft to fly the animal back to the north-eastern seaboard, where he is thought to originate from.

The seal would be taken to a rehabilitation centre at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and after a few months, released back into the wild.

Meanwhile, the young male appears to be lapping up his time in Bermuda, munching on fish and sunning himself on a wooden ramp by his quarantine pool, constructed especially for him by BAMZ plant staff.

Stranded seals usually only have a ten percent survival rate but BAMZ acting principal curator Dr. Walker is "cautiously optimistic" about this one.

The young male appears to be making good progress, eating 80 herring a day.

"He's doing well and putting on weight," said Dr. Walker. "He needs to put on weight and keep warm as he didn't have a lot of fat reserves left."

The seal was found on a beach at Ariel Sands on February 15, with a deep laceration to his neck caused by monofilament netting.

It is thought he was swept here on currents from the northeastern US. He is only the fourth Harbour Seal to reach Bermuda in the past 150 years.

"Right now he's doing well. His neck is healing well and he's sitting by the pool, enjoying the sun," said Dr. Walker.

"He's getting fed up to seven times a day, so is on the right track.

"We are hoping to take him to the National Aquarium in Baltimore as they have a large quarantine area and pool where he could finish his rehab. His blood tests have now arrived in Georgia where they will do some viral tests, and if those are fine we will be able to send him up there."

Dr. Walker said a Hercules plane was needed to transport the seal but if the US Coast Guard does not have one immediately in the area, commercial companies may be able to fly him to Baltimore instead.

"It's just the logistics of how we can get him there in the shortest amount of time and in the most comfort," he said. "It could be early next week but we don't know at the moment."

He said rather than being transported in a tank of water with a sling, such as a dolphin, the seal could be flown 'dry' in a large dog kennel or box. However, his hind flippers would have to be kept wet to keep him cool.

The seal estimated to be about a year old is the second Harbour Seal to arrive in our waters in the past two months. The first was recovered from Hamilton Harbour on January 4 but died two weeks later.