Your morning adorable: Rescued seal pup prepares to return to the wild

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Wildlife rescuers at a seal station in the northern German municipality of Norddeich typically rescue between 30 and 80 orphaned or abandoned seal pups each year. This year is no different; the Norddeich station has taken in about 70 young seals, which wouldn’t be able to survive on their own. At the station, rescuers care for the pups until they’re old enough to be released into the wild. (Here in Southern California, the California Wildlife Center fulfills a similar role.)

This year, one of the lucky pups rescued at the station is Kalli, above, a harbor seal. She and four other pups are ready to return to the wild; they’ll be released today in the North Sea.

-- Lindsay Barnett