Sent to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, it has spent the past few months in its own tank, getting healthy and putting on weight.

The center, which doesn't have the space or money to keep the seal, has done all it can do. But because the seal can't hunt, it can't be released into the ocean.

Unless a new home can be found - an aquarium or a zoo - the harbor seal will be euthanized.

"We're a rehab, not a display facility," said Bob Schoelkopf, director of the stranding center. "Bottom line is if nobody takes him that's the only choice we have."

While Schoelkopf indicated time was running out, a spokeswoman for the federal agency that oversees marine mammals was more optimistic, saying the stranding center would not be held to a deadline.