Secca, a female harbor seal rehabilitated by the National Aquarium in Baltimore after she was found stranded and dehydrated in Ocean City two days into the New Year, was returned to the ocean Monday.

She was found on the beach Jan. 2 -- emaciated, dehydrated and with lacerations and an injury to a front flipper. At the aquarium, she recovered from her wounds and gained 30 pounds on a diet of herring and capelin.

Members of the Aquarium's Marine Animal Rescue Program (MARP) named the seal Secca, which means “dry” in Italian, because of her preference for lounging dry on the deck instead of getting wet in the rehabilitation pool.

“Secca thrived while in rehabilitation, and we have every reason to believe that she will have a successful reintroduction back into her natural environment,” said MARP coordinator Jennifer Dittmar. “We strive to return these stranded animals to the ocean as soon as they are ready, and to minimize contact while they are in our care, in order to avoid them coming to associate humans with food.”

Secca was fitted with a satellite tag provided by the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, which will transmit information about her location and speed, and you can follow her progress by viewing a satellite map of her travels on the Aquarium’s website at http://www.aqua.org/tracksecca. Information will be gathered until the adhesive fails and the tag falls off.

Aquarium staff, volunteers and an enthusiastic crowd on the beach at 40th street in Ocean City, watched as Secca was released.

Secca is the 80th animal rehabilitated and returned to their natural habitat by MARP since the program was established in 1991. The animals rescued by MARP include dolphins, porpoises, whales, sea turtles, manatees and seals.

(Photos by Pat Venturino, Venture Photos, courtesy of National Aquarium)