Summer is coming near, and as more people begin heading to the beach there are going to be more interactions with the growing seal population in our area. Already, videos are popping up on Facebook and Instagram showing unwitting locals filming the creatures – all inevitably followed by some attempted do-gooder urging the amateur Attenborough to give it food or try and move the creature back into the water. Experts, however, all have a word of advice for the would-be seal saviors and marine photographers out there: leave the animals alone!
In order to better understand the seal situation on our shores, The Wave got in touch with Robert DiGiovanni, the Executive Director and Chief Scientist at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.
“There’s a lot more [seal] movement in the area than people really anticipate or previously thought,” DiGiovanni explained. “We’re having animals all around [Long Island] on a regular basis… to put it into perspective, thirty years ago on my first survey I only needed thirty-six pictures to count all the seals on the east end of Long Island. Now, we have hundreds of animals at each one of the haul-out sites.”
DiGiovanni went on to tell The Wave that, while some animals may come up onto the beach due to a sickness (a phenomena known as a stranding), many others use our shores as a haul-out site – in other words they are simply coming up onto the beach to catch some sun and relax on the sand. In order to better gauge whether or not a creature they are witnessing is truly sick or if it is just enjoying some time in the sun, DiGiovanni says it is best to leave all seals alone and to call the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society with any questions. The experts at the AMCS can then walk you through what to do next, but no matter what, DiGiovanni says it is important to stay at least 50 yards – 150 feet – away from the animals at all times.
“People always assume when they see an animal along the shore that it must be sick,” DiGiovanni said. “That’s not always the case. It might be the case, but we need to educate the public more on seal behavior and how they act.”
“If you see an animal, you can report it to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society at sightings@amseas.org, or call our office at 631-317-0030, and let us know what you see, because that’s how we understand how different animals are coming to different areas.“
For animals that are determined to be sick or that are visibly injured, DiGiovanni tells people to call the NYS Stranding Hotline at 631-369-9829, and an expert will do their best to help.
So, why do the seals seem to be coming to our shores in higher and higher numbers? Well, Mr. DiGiovanni says it is the long-term payoff of conservation efforts that began back in the 1970’s.
“What triggered it all was the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, where the animals became protected so that it would be illegal to harass, hunt, or kill these animals,” DiGiovanni explained, telling The Wave that this was a significant reversal from decades prior, when there would often be bounties placed on seals by people who believed they were detrimental to local fisheries. “Then the Endangered Species Act of 1973 put in regulations to better monitor animal populations and understand if they are getting to a critical level where we might have to put in extra protections.”
“These are long-lived animals…it takes a significant amount of time to start seeing some positive feedback,” DiGiovanni went on, saying that those protections have enabled populations to begin recovering all along the Atlantic coast.
Increasingly too, some populations of seals are deciding to make the area around New York City their long-term home, opting to stay local rather than make the long migrations along the Atlantic coastline as they had done in the past.
“We have a habitat that can contain them here,” the scientist says, “And I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that we have more and more [staying] every year.”
DiGiovanni believes that, while some populations might remain throughout the year, one of the things that prevent an even greater-year-round population around New York Harbor is the massive amount of human activity that might hamper seal colonization. He points out that several seal sites – such as one in Shinnecock Bay – may hold colonies throughout the winter, but those colonies begin to move out once humans start going to the beach and heading onto the water in boats as the weather gets warmer.
The two most common species of seals in our area, DiGiovanni adds, are harbor seals and gray seals, however smaller populations of Harp Seals, Hooded Seals, and Ring Seals have also been found in our area. With these increased populations, however, this also means that we as humans need to be a bit more aware of our surroundings – especially when we are out on our boats.
“A lot of people aren’t aware that these animals are out there,” DiGiovanni says, explaining how today one of the greatest dangers to New York’s marine mammal populations comes from strikes with local boaters. “It’s very important for people to always be aware of what’s around them, especially on the water.”
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April 10, 2021 at 12:02AM
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