Baby seal rescued for second time in months off California coast

FREEMONT, Calif. -- A 9-month-old northern fur seal found herself stranded for a second time Thursday, in the front yard of a Freemont home, CBS SF Bay Area reports.

The animal was lying under a tree on Osgood Road -- prompting to police to name the animal Ozzie, according to a spokesperson. She did not have any visible injuries, the spokesperson told the station, and police lifted her into a cage in a towel to await the arrival of Marine Mammal Center staff.

The seal's official condition is still unclear, but it's identity was known to Marine Mammal Center staff, who could by a tag on her flipper that she was the same seal they'd named Kumofur.

With warm coastal water conditions causing a record number of northern fur seal pup rescues last year, this is the second time they've picked her up since last November, when was rescued at New Brighton State Beach in Capitola, treated for malnutrition and then released earlier this month.

Marine Mammal Center spokeswoman Laura Sherr said that it's not uncommon to see young seals strand themselves more than once. Kamofur is still in her youth. Male seals live to about 10 years old while females live to about 27, she said.

The number of seal rescues has been climbing. By Nov. 19, 2015, more than 80 seals had been rescued, three times the number in 2014 and more than twice the then-record number rescued in 2006.

Kumofur was found far from Bodega Bay, where she had been released. Sherr said the pup may have been following a food source or perhaps got lost and went up a wrong waterway.

Northern fur seals typically live far out to sea.