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Thursday April 17, 2025 We enjoyed a good late afternoon seal watch today, but as anticipated, many of the seals that have been hanging out here for the past three weeks have moved on. The recent trend of bad weekend weather has been unfortunate, as we know many seal seekers are not able to visit Rome Point on weekdays, when the seal watching for the past three weeks has been outstanding. This weekend, which will feature fair weather, is going to fall victim to a different misfortune: the low tide is poorly timed. This time of year, there are a lot of juvenile seals and pregnant seals around, and these seals sometimes haul out early in the ebb tide on tall rocks on a nice Spring day. We are going to check it out Saturday afternoon around 1:30, but if the early arrivals are not present it might be a long wait for a 5:45 slow moving low neap tide. For anyone determined to see seals, early evening is the best bet for Saturday or Sunday.
We have removed the Recent Seal Observation Notes page from this website, and we are making a few additional changes as well. From now on only the most recent observation notes will be posted, right here on the Home page. However, we plan to expand the recent observation notes below with more visual content, especially on days when we enjoy some interesting observations. A picture is worth a thousand words, so scroll down to check it out!
Recent Seal Observation Notes:
Thursday April 17, 2025 - 66 seals hauled out, 57 degrees, clear, W 10 to 20 15:30 1 seal on far rock for 67 seals total As we expected, a lot of seals moved out of the area during the weekend full moon tide cycle, but seal observation at haul-out time today was still pretty good. Fewer seals means a lot less territorial behavior, and the west wind had a chilly bite to it that seemed to mellow out the seals and other wildlife as well. A sign that the seals are on the move is that juvenile seals and expecting moms-to-be take center stage, and we spotted well-posed representatives of both of these seal categories this afternoon. When the light improved, we could not resist taking a few photos for posterity as this seal season approaches its end.
First up are the yearlings, who traditionally gather on the tall rocks just to the right of the white rock. The young seals shown below have been in these same spots for the past three weeks, mainly because these rocks are less desirable for larger seals who can choose to displace the small seals if they wish. There were more juvenile seals gathered here earlier, but we think the brisk wind and abundance of available rocks enticed some of them to move to more comfortable spots.
One of the young seals that moved off the tall rocks ended up on the pointy rock today, displaying good balance as it maintained this position on a windy day.
The haul-out rocks looked like a harbor seal maternity ward today, as many expectant moms were in clear view with no crowd around them to block the view. Take a look at these big-bellied beauties! We have long wondered whether the offspring of the pregnant seals we see here make Rome Point their winter home when they grow up.
We have noticed that certain seals favor particular positions on their rock, and the seal shown below is one that likes to assume the same profile as the rock. This seal is well camouflaged when it lays in this position, invisible to the unaided eye and hard to see even with good 10x binoculars.
This time of year it is worth
the effort to try to be on the beach two to
three hours before low tide, as the haul-out
time is when the seals are usually most active.
In addition, it is a good practice to arrive
early in the seals' rest cycle to stay a step
ahead of marauding watercraft, which can spoil a
seal watch by chasing the seals from the area. When the seal count at Rome
Point exceeds the 100 seal benchmark, the
haul-out time seal show rivals almost any
wild animal observation you are likely to
see anywhere in North America. The big seal
show has come to town now, and there may
still be great opportunities to see the
seals before they leave town for the summer.