Monday, May 2, 2016 - Another seal season has come and gone at Rome Point, with the seal observation peaking in March and coming to an early conclusion in late April.  Our friends at Save the Bay have advised us that a record number of seals were counted this Spring during one of their seal counts which bodes well for the future of wintering harbor seals in Narragansett Bay. Less encouraging is the burgeoning population of Grey seals on Cape Cod, as can be seen in this video clip: Monomoy Seals  This unnatural overpopulation is largely a result of long-term human predation of the large shark species, which has served to remove 90% of the seal's primary predators from the population balancing equation. Proposals to remove seals from protected status are beginning to gain traction among ocean conservation policy movers and shakers; perhaps rightly so, but we find the notion of humans killing seals to compensate for the depleted population of large sharks, which of course were mostly extirpated by humans, to be disconcerting.  

We hope to be back in the Fall, but we are unsure at this time if we will be maintaining this website in the future due to additional professional and personal constraints on our free time.  We are grateful for all of the positive and friendly interactions we have had with our many seal-watching friends this season and even if we can't continue with the website, we will continue our seal observations whenever we have the chance.  Until our paths cross again on the shore of the bay, we extend best wishes to everyone and best hopes for good health and good luck to all.

Some of our seal watching friends have shown an interest in sharks; we found this website 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 contains several interesting interactions between seal pups and adult seals.  Linebelly Rising is a short clip showing the Rome Point kingpin climbing to the top of his favorite pointy rock. 
Video Links:
Seal Action March 2013
Linebelly Rising   
Big Seal Day 2011 
Seal Pup Follies  
Rome Point Seals 2011 

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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 700 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!