Where are the seals?
"SnoCone” - one of many harbor seal pups seen in 2016 | Credit: Lynn Shimamoto
“Where are the seals?”
That’s the question Seal Sitters have been asking lately.
2007, when Seal Sitters was founded as NOAA’s stranding network for West Seattle, was a banner year for harbor seal pups showing up on local beaches. In those early years, volunteers responded to hundreds of hotline calls and up to 70 individual seals and sea lions.
In contrast, 2024 brought only 4 live seals during “pupping” season. (This is the time in autumn when pups are born, weaned and begin to haul out.) This steep decline was noticeable since the 2020s. What has caused the drop?
Seal Sitters asked this question of Casey Clark of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He co-authored the latest population study of harbor seals in Washington State, which you can read here.
Aerial surveys show that the Southern Puget Sound stock of an estimated 2,500 seals is the highest it’s been in the 40-year time frame of the study and may still be growing. The number of pups has grown steadily along with the population.
So why aren’t we seeing many pups in West Seattle?
The report says the seals may change their behavior because of “increased human activity near haul-out sites or increased predation pressure from killer whales.” There do seem to be more people and dogs on West Seattle beaches since the COVID outbreak. Meanwhile, beaches in other areas, closed to the public, have become busy seal haul-outs.
A transient orca pod encircling a harbor seal | Credit: David Hutchinson
Are orcas eating the seals?
Transient orcas are increasingly present in South Puget Sound. These are marine mammal-eating killer whales, preying on harbor seals, California sea lions and harbor porpoises. Seal Sitters volunteer David Hutchinson captured this dramatic scene from Duwamish Head of an orca pod encircling a harbor seal (above).
Onlookers report that this lucky seal survived.
Whether increased human or orca presence is causing the seals to stay away from West Seattle, we are relieved to learn that there is a healthy harbor seal population - elsewhere in Puget Sound.
