Thursday January 17, 2019 -  We ventured out for an early morning seal walk today, with hopes of seeing some seals before a spell of stormy weather arrives. Surprisingly, just a few seals were hauled out on the center rock an hour before low tide, so we cut our disappointing seal hike short.  The tide takes a turn for the better now with full-moon astronomical extra-low tides well timed for convenient mid-day seal watching, however, it looks like the weather is not going to cooperate anytime soon. Saturday late morning through early afternoon looks like the best chance, and could be good if the predicted NE wind does not make the seals... and seal observers... too uncomfortable. We were hoping for better weather coming up, but every season it seems there is a period of time when the tide is good but the weather is not, and vice versa. For now we will have to take occasional seal hikes as they come, with hopes for improving weather later next week before the tide window closes once more.

Best regards to all of our seal watching friends and acquaintances, especially to some who we did not meet up with on the beach this year.  We missed seeing a few of our long-time seal seeking compatriots this season; seasons of the seals move along, and friends come and go as time passes. 2018 marks our 18th year of seal watching at Rome Point, with over 800 observations recorded, and many memories of special days shared with family, friends, and strangers will always be ours to treasure.

This time of year is pupping time for the Grey seal colony that makes its home on Seal Island in the Gulf of Maine.  This mostly live web cam: Gray Seal Pups is fascinating at times, but some images may be a bit graphic for sensitive viewers.  This is nature in live action, with all the triumph and, at times, tragedy that is characteristic of the wild natural world.  Always worth a look for naturalists, and sometimes exceptionally compelling to watch.

Here is a link to video showing an incredible aggregation of Grey seals on Cape Cod at Monomoy. Grey Seals on the Beach at Cape Cod

Some of our seal watching friends have shown an interest in sharks; this website is dedicated to tracking sharks that have been tagged with GPS satellite transponders. Ocearch Shark Tracker  

We have posted some short seal videos to 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 Rome Point kingpin climbing to the top of his favorite pointy rock. 

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    Welcome to the Internet home of the Rome Point harbor seal colony in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay.  This web site is the place to learn where, when, and how to observe harbor seals from the shore of the John H.Chafee Nature Preserve at Rome Point, located in North Kingstown, RI.  Rome Point is the best place in southern New England to observe large numbers of wintering harbor seals from shore. Since 1999, I have had the pleasure of enjoying more than 800 seal walks and sharing close-up views of the seals through my spotting scope with at least 8000 friends, neighbors, and seal seekers from all over the world.  Rome Point is one of Rhode Island's most spectacular natural treasures; on a good day the seal watching experience rivals any wildlife sightings you are likely to observe in most US National Parks.  

   This web site is a guide to having a successful and fun seal watching hike at Rome Point.  The information presented here will enable you to locate and responsibly observe the seals.  This site is published as a public service by amateur naturalists on a volunteer basis.  Thanks for visiting Romepointseals.org!