CHARLESTOWN — The 15 seals released in Charlestown yesterday were not particularly graceful as they flopped and wriggled their way to the ocean.

Nor were they terribly friendly; handlers were directed to protect their legs while releasing the animals and spectators told to keep a safe distance.

But still it seemed self-evident to the 200 people who came to Blue Shutters Beach despite a persistent, chilly wind, that the Mystic Aquarium Institute for Exploration’s largest release of rehabilitated seals was an event worth catching.

“If we didn’t go, we’d feel pretty stupid,” said Dave Daubert, from Elgin, Ill. Daubert, a pastor, was one of a group of pastors and other church affiliates from across New England who met at St. Andrew’s Church for a workshop just up the street from the release site.

“It was a serendipitous appearance,” he said. They learned about the release just a few hours beforehand.

Fourteen harp seals and one gray seal have been in the care of the aquarium’s marine animal rescue program in Connecticut for about a month. Before yesterday’s release, the most the group has ever returned to the wild at once was four.

The surge in animals wasn’t because there were more stranded seals, but the result of a similar facility in Maine closing shop. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asked Mystic to take on the additional animals.

“The government picked us because of our reputation, history and quality of services,” Tracy Romano, the senior vice president of research and zoological operations at the institute, said.

After tests, observation and medication, the seals were given a clean bill of health, transported to the beach and carried, four at a time, to the beach in cages. Halfway to the water’s edge, the cages were set down and volunteers were picked to open the doors.

Dozens of hands shot up in the air; many were kids who had gotten out of school just for the release. Emily Knowles and her children, 9-year-old Kevin and 5-year-old Valerie, chased the receding waves at a time when they would usually be in class. Their teacher, a volunteer for the aquarium, was going to miss class to be at the release.

“We said, ‘That’s worth getting out of school for,’ ” Knowles, a Connecticut resident, said. The kids seemed to agree.

Once the seals were released, most took off, taking less than 45 seconds to wriggle through the sand and pull themselves with their front claws to the water. They bobbed up and down briefly, before disappearing from sight.

“They take off and head north,” Romano said. In three to four days, they should be in Maine. After that, it’s farther north to Canada for at least 14 of the animals. The gray seal often hangs around through the summer along with harbor seals.

Although these animals were not being tracked, others released from the same area have been spotted in Greenland four days after their release.

Mackenzie Gallop, another student whose parents decided this marine biology lesson was best taught at the beach, wants to do animal rescue work when she gets older. The 12 year old hadn’t decided if she wanted to study wildlife or marine biology.

After seeing the seals returned to the ocean, she said, she may have made up her mind.

“I think,” she said with a smile that exposed multi-colored braces, “I want to do marine biology now.”

bjeffers@projo.com