A true seal-good story.

Residents of a Stoney Brook Lane home were surprised on Monday, Feb. 14 to find a seal rolling around in their yard.

According to Dartmouth Police Spokesperson Det. Kyle Costa, the residents called the police to make sure the seal was okay.

“It certainly wasn’t in distress,” he said, explaining that the seal appeared to be rolling around in a playful way and not because of any identifiable injury.

Though he admitted, “I don’t know what a seal generally does with its leisure time.”

Costa said that an officer was able to take a picture of the seal before it retreated back into Apponagansett Bay before Animal Control could arrive, leaving behind only a seasonally-relevant snow angel as a Valentine.

“It made a heart shape,” Costa noted.

Julia Kaplan, a representative of Massachusetts’ Division of Marine Fisheries, said that encounters with seals occur frequently in the area. 

“Seals are very common in our area and they are often out of the water, rolling around, being seals,” she said. “The seal is probably perfectly fine and will move on soon. But I’d give it space and keep kids and pets away.”

Kaplan added that seals can carry canine distemper which can pass to people and dogs. They are also a protected marine mammal, making it illegal to harm or harass them.

If any residents see any seals on shore in the future, police advise that the seals be left alone.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the animals sometimes rest on the shore when sick, tired or injured. If unexpectedly pushed back into the water, a seal can drown.

“Help by social distancing from seals by 150 feet,” a notice from the department read.