As gray seal pupping season comes to an end off the coast of Massachusetts and Maine, scientists are finishing a study.

Crocker Snow Jr. remembers vividly the first time he set foot on Muskeget island. The 250-acre stretch of sand and scrub brush forms the westernmost tip of Nantucket.
Two Oak Bluffs police officers became marine mammal rescuers Tuesday night when they helped guide a rogue seal back into Nantucket Sound.
Last month, NOAA declared an Unusual Mortality Event for pinnipeds, a group of aquatic mammals that include seals.