Hello

Just been to the Cape and wanted to share Seal watching. If you go to the Head of the Meadow Beach in North Truro and you walk about 20 minutes east , you will see seals in the water and on the beach. The Park ranger does not let people come close to the seals but one can still see them. People will suggest to go during low tide. When I was there the seals decided to leave exactly at low tide. . So be there an hour before the lowest tide point. I did not take the seal watching boat so I do not know if it is better than seeing them on the beach.

It is fun to see seals in the wild . They have been much more plentiful in the Massachusetts and Connecticut coastal areas. We often see them in fishers island sound. Z

The down side is that they are food for sharks and we kind of look like seals to sharks.

They are a disaster for fishermen, dangerous up close, and attract Great White Sharks, resulting in beaches being closed.

They are better than elephant seals in California, though.

We saw seals out on the waters from Portsmouth, NH last week while on a boat ride not specifically for seeing seals, but we saw them.

sadly I think it is time to cull the herd,

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/a...blem-cape-cod/

What I can't figure out is why they have moved so far south.

In general, seals don't like warm weather and warm water.. Less than twenty years ago, seals didn't arrive in Nantucket until Thanksgiving, and they went back up north in April. Now they live and breed here all year round.

Logic would suggest that global warming would keep them north, but they are spreading south as far as Long Island Sound.

Does anyone have an explanation?

We saw the same thing this year at Head of the Meadows. We had binoculars, and it was impressive because there were so many of them.

Interesting question Ack. I'm sure there are quite a few scientists and fishermen studying the migratory changes. Perhaps it was simply that the numbers were so diminished when they stopped culling back in the 70's? I have no idea, and wouldn't even bother to make an uneducated guess.

I know that this summer marine biologists tagged their first grey seal in Chatham, MA. Up until the save the seals nixon era program they were culled. Problem is that the cute harpseal was their poster seal. The grey seal could and perhaps should become a food source, however, introducing it is like trying to market Bambi and the barbie. The numbers have gone off the charts all over as far as I have read. Even in Hawaii, fisherman are showing an early concern for the protected monk seal.

These are two interesting articles. Canada wants to cull, but their is little incentive to cull for the fishermen unless they can source the meat.

http://www.theloop.ca/news/all/you-a...d-into-snacks-

http://www.talkingfish.org/newenglan...ment-challenge

madi, I apologize if I have overshadowed you lovely report. It is always wonderful to witness wildlife in their environment. Although there is a bit of a population crisis, that doesn't diminish how fun it is to watch seals. And anyone who happens to read your report should take the stroll.

There have been seals on Long Island for MANY years - on the Atlantic side - not sure about the sound. When we went surf-fishing at Jones Beach or Robert Moses in the fall - November or nicer days in Dec - there were often small groups of seals on the beach - although naturally we couldn't get anywhere near them.

Yes, my, winter absolutely, but the summer thing is new and I suspect that
Lookin_glass's suggestion of population pressure is probably the right one. In the absence of predators, human or other, warm water becomes preferable to no food, forcing the seals south as fish stocks collapse. Of course, the more the population grows, the more the food supply becomes inadequate . . . .

A vicious circle indeed, though the Great White sharks are doing their best to solve the problem.