Saturday February 8, 2025 -  We enjoyed a fine Saturday seal watch today with plenty of seals well-posed in good light for telescopic observation. A spell of wintry weather is on the way for the upcoming week, with Tuesday appearing to be the best opportunity for a seal hike in the next 7 days. A winter walk at Rome Point with snow on the ground has it's own unique charms, as the variety of tracks to be found in the snow serve to reveal the presence of the variety of creatures that make their home on Rome Point shore. Weather and tide forecasts for Tuesday appear to be ideal for a late morning thru early afternoon winter wonderland hike to see the seals.

We are currently in the heart of the coldest, and soon to be the snowiest, winter in the past 5 years in southern RI. Winter walks have their unique charms, and prospective hikers are advised to be prepared to encounter trail conditions that may offer uneven footing at best and downright dangerous conditions at worst. Snow that has been through a thaw-freeze cycle or two can transform to treacherous ice and an awkward slip or fall on the ice has the potential to be a life-altering misfortune. We encountered a couple of unexpected slippery patches today, which reminded us that good judgement and precautions are advised when the trail conditions are poor.

We use several techniques to stay safe on snowy or icy trails, and foremost among them is use of a walking stick or metal hiking staff. Another good trick is to choose your path wisely, so when the forest trails turn icy we proceed directly down the dirt road straight to the beach, which always offers sound footing below the tide line. There are commercially available traction aiding cleats that can be affixed to boots that make walking on even wet ice a lot safer. Beware of wet ice! and finally, when in doubt, bail out, there is no shame in choosing a different hiking location if that's what it takes to avoid a painful fall on rock-hard ice.

We took a look at our past seal counts back in April, as we were curious when we had last seen over 150 seals on the rocks at Rome Point. It turns out that March 27, 2021 was the last seal count that exceeded the 150 seal benchmark, and we had to go back to spring 2018 to see multiple consecutive counts of greater than 150 seals. We would assert that there are not as many harbor seals making their winter home in Narragansett Bay as there were 10 years ago, for reasons that we continue to ponder as our seal counts gradually become slightly lower each season.

The links below connect to short seal videos we posted on YouTube for your seal watching amusement.  Seal Pup Follies was recorded in Maine in June 2012 and Linebelly Rising is a short clip showing the former Rome Point kingpin climbing to the top of his favorite pointy rock.