Nearly Blind Seal to Get Surgery

A young seal with cataracts is expected to get top-notch treatment.

The male seal, named KP2 (Kauai Pup 2), was abandoned at birth by its mom and raised in captivity until the animal was strong enough to be released near Molokai in Hawaii. But just recently, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found the now 18-month-old seal has cataracts and is 80 percent blind, according to news reports.

The seal will reportedly be flown to a facility at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where KP2 will undergo state-of-the-art surgery, says Hawaii News Now. It's not likely the seal will be released into the wild after surgery.

This wouldn't be the first time doctors performed high-tech procedures to help an animal gain back eyesight. In 2007, researchers implanted microchips into the eyes of Persian cats to cure a hereditary eye disease. And gene therapy recently showed promise in curing color blindness in two male squirrel monkeys.

Read the full story on KP2 at Hawaii News Now.

• Video – Implants Help Blind Cats See
• Video – Monkey Gets Color Vision