Gray seal

'Peconic,' the gray seal pup rescued from the Riverside traffic circle Sunday, was released into the ocean Friday morning in Hampton Bays. After making his way to the water's edge, he turned to face his human caregivers from the New York Marine Rescue Center, bobbed his head up and down for a moment as if to bid them farewell, then entered the water and swam away.

A gray seal has been spotted in the western area of Peconic River in Riverhead, swimming, eating and sunbathing over the last week or so. Though a gray seal's presence in this area of the river is not common, the seal appears to be healthy and not in any distress, experts say.