Rowers at the Park Somerlust rowing club in Amsterdam have spotted a seal basking on a jetty on Thursday, local broadcaster AT5 reported.

Another seal, a young pup, was spotted earlier in Utrecht, and it is as yet unclear if that seal made its way to the Amstel.

“It was just chilling on the corner of the jetty, and I saw immediately it was a seal,” Jonna Muller told the broadcaster.

Muller rang the animal ambulance, which contacted the Pieterburen seal sanctuary, which said it is not unusual for seals to come inland. “They love perch and eel and there’s a lot of those about,” a spokesman for the sanctuary said.

He said it is not likely that the Utrecht seal, dubbed Uutje, and the Amsterdam seal, which may be christened Aatje, are one and the same. That could only be established up close and that is exactly what the seal doesn’t need, even if the temptation to approach the animal when it is perched on the jetty is great, he said.

“The seal seems to be in good health, and there’s no need to intervene. It’s best to keep your distance and admire him from afar through binoculars,” he said.

Last year, a seal was spotted in IJburg, and in 2020 and 2021 they popped up in the IJ and again in the Amstel.