PACIFIC GROVE — Road construction along Ocean Boulevard in Pacific Grove was temporarily halted recently after disturbing nursing harbor seals, which are protected under federal law.
“We had more failed deliveries and miscarriages in March than we’ve ever had,” says Thom Akeman, a long-time volunteer harbor seal monitor with Bay Net, the shoreline docent group for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Network.
These doe-eyed marine mammals give birth between February and June, and are particularly sensitive to human disturbance during this time, says Akeman. Birthing mothers haul out on beaches, spending 10-12 hours per day onshore to nurse pups and rest.
Pacific Grove has several beaches where harbor seals return year after year, particularly along Ocean View Boulevard between Berwick Park and Hopkins Marine Station.
Loud noises and human encounters stress the seals and can drive them back into the water, and even cause abandonment of seal pups. According to the Marine Mammal Center, which rehabilitates and releases harbor seals and other marine mammals, many of the seal pups they treat were abandoned by their mothers after being disturbed by humans.
One day in early April, Akeman counted a total of 42 seals on a beach that hosted 125 seals on the same day last year. And he says that births have also been affected.
Construction began Feb. 14 and stretched between 2nd and 11th streets along Ocean View Boulevard – the same stretch that adjoins critical harbor seal pupping habitat. Crews from California American Water were replacing the aging water mainline beneath the road, with the city planning to follow with paving and road improvements before the start of the busy tourist season. A notice that the company sent to customers in February stated that work was expected to continue until mid-April.
“We anticipated being further away from the harbor seal colony before the commencement of pupping season,” says Daniel Gho, Pacific Grove’s Director of Public Works.
As road work stretched into March, harbor seal monitors became alarmed as they observed the impacts of the construction noise on the seals. At the March 2 City Council meeting, several community members made impassioned pleas on behalf of the harbor seals, asking for work to be halted until after the pupping season.
Nursing seals are protected under local city ordinance, which considers pupping season to continue from February through May. All marine mammals are also protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, which makes disturbing the animals a federal offense.
When Councilman Chaps Poduri raised the question of whether the road work would potentially violate these regulations at the March 2 meeting, Gho responded “I’m not familiar with the Marine Mammal Act and any violations that would be occurring with this project … I don’t see how maintenance of a roadway and sewer systems would be violating a marine mammal act. There’s nothing in our policy or our codes that specifies that we’re not allowed to perform this work.”
Following deliberation, the City Council voted 6-1 to move ahead with the planned work with some adjustments to try and minimize seal disturbance, citing scheduling limitations for funding and the looming summer tourist season. Councilman Luke Colletti was the sole dissenting vote.
Thom and Kim Akeman took their concerns to Karen Grimmer, Resource Protection Coordinator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is responsible for enforcing the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Grimmer contacted Gho to remind him of the city’s responsibilities under the federal law.
“I said this shouldn’t be happening now, and I explained the whole Marine Mammal Protection Act to him, and that there should have been some communication with NOAA Fisheries. And that for future projects, we really needed to have more communication,” says Grimmer.
Gho agreed to temporarily halt the road work projects from April 11, until the end of pupping season.
“I thought the actions that the city took were appropriate,” says Grimmer. “I just wish they had taken those actions a little sooner.”
According to Akeman, the first successful birth of the season at the Fifth Street rookery happened a few days later.
The Marine Mammal Center hasn’t yet seen any abnormalities in harbor seal rescues in the Pacific Grove area, which typically peaks in May. However, the Center has documented a substantial increase in human disturbances to seal and sea lion pups in Santa Cruz and Monterey County in recent years.
To avoid disturbing the seals in the future, Grimmer emphasizes clear and early communication. “We understand there’s a need for maintenance to occur… the city needs to do that upkeep and we just want to be able to work with them and figure out a schedule that works for everybody. Including the seals.”
"seal" - Google News
April 24, 2022 at 01:25AM
https://ift.tt/80Mpanh
Harbor seal pupping season in Pacific Grove disturbed by road work - Monterey Herald
"seal" - Google News
https://ift.tt/wXiCfJ8
https://ift.tt/3CoSTPf
No comments:
Post a Comment