A rescued harp seal that seemed to be on the road to recovery suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse on Wednesday and had to be euthanized, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center said Thursday.

Marine Mammal Stranding Center says the seal was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 19 after it was found consuming beach on the sand in Middletown.

A 154-pound harp seal was hauled out of Brant Beach in Long Beach Island on March 8. In a post on Facebook, the MMSC said the seal’s behavior on the beach was observed for 24 hours by the ...