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The Vancouver Aquarium is treating 50 stranded seal pups, and dozens more are expected through the summer months.

The aquarium is reminding people that May to August is busy seal pup stranding season and if they come across an animal in distress to call the rescue centre at 604-258-7325.

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Typically, the aquarium treats between 120 and 150 seal pups by the end of summer. The aquarium says most of them are returned to the wild provided they are healthy enough to forage for food on their own.

The centre’s manager Lindsaye Akhurst says not every pup spotted alone is in need of rescue, so an assessment is “critically important to ensure that a healthy animal isn’t brought in for treatment when it doesn’t need to be.”

The veterinarian team looks for signs of dehydration or injury first. If the pup seems healthy they ask the caller to wait and keep an eye on it.

Akhurst says during the summer season, mother seals will often leave their newborn pups to rest for long periods of time while they forage for food before returning.

Meantime, the organization is fundraising for the construction of a new hospital building to help treat some of these animals that require surgery.

Construction is underway and the team hopes it will open by the end of August.

ticrawford@postmedia.com