·
Any day with calm
winds presents
a good seal watching opportunity, especially if the day
has been preceded by
several days of inclement weather or strong winds.
The seals are not
bothered by cold and will haul out on the rocks on
most calm days.
·
Strong north wind
(> 15 mph) is not
good for seal sightings; most days when I have seen
no seals it has
either been raining or snowing heavily, or the wind
is blowing hard from
the north, north-northwest, or northeast.
·
Strong wind from
an easterly or
southerly direction can adversely affect seal watching.
An east wind can
make your seal watch uncomfortable with a chilly breeze
blowing in your face,
while a south wind generally makes for rough bay
conditions on the outgoing
tide.
·
Strong wind from
the southwest or west
may not have an adverse effect on the number of seals
present; this is because
the haul-out rocks are somewhat sheltered by the Rome
Point shoreline.
Northwest wind often means fewer seals will be
hauled out, depending on
the wind velocity.
·
Fog can sometimes
be a problem,
however, the wind is almost always calm on foggy days.
Some of my best
seal observations have taken place as a curtain of fog
burns off, gradually
revealing large numbers of seals on the rocks. The
chances of the seals
being disturbed by watercraft is diminished on foggy days,
making a foggy
spring morning a good opportunity for patient seal
observers.
·
There are a
number of factors that
affect the daily tide cycle, including wind speed,
wind direction, and the
current phase of the moon. Seals will
usually begin to haul out from
2 to 4 hours before low tide at Wickford; on any
specific day the seal's
arrival time is correlated to the weather and tide
conditions on that day.
The seals tend to haul out earlier in the ebb
tide when the extent
of the tide change is greatest (tide especially low)
and the wind is calm. If
they are not disturbed, seals will sometimes remain in
the area resting on the
rocks for up to 3 hours after low tide.
·
The
greatest number of seals are
usually present on the rocks from one hour preceding
low tide until one hour
after low tide. However, on nice days human
disturbance can spoil an otherwise
well-timed seal walk at low tide. Plan to
arrive at the Rome Point
haul-out site 2 to 3 hours before low tide,
especially on relatively warm, calm
Spring weekends when the seals are most likely
to be spooked by
watercraft.
·
Low tides
in the afternoon on
temperate, calm weekends may be challenging for seal
observation due to the
possibility that the seals may be flushed from the
rocks by watercraft. A
morning seal walk is a useful tactic to
increase the probability of seeing
large numbers of seals, when the low tide timing
allows for this in the
Spring. The chances of the seals having been
disturbed by watercraft may
also be reduced by arriving on the beach about 3
hours before low tide; this
trick will often allow you to view the seals before
boats or kayaks arrive
later in the haul-out cycle.
·
The seals
are often most active
and interesting when they are approaching the
haul-out rocks for their
rest break. They can frequently be observed leaping
and splashing; Harbor seals
hauling out on the rocks and settling in to rest is
both amusing and
awe-inspiring to observe. Whenever I can, I
time my seal walks to
coincide with the haul-out arrival time, on the
average about 3 hours before
low tide.
·
The later
into the seal's rest period
that you arrive at the viewing site, the greater the
chance that the seals have
already been scared away by boats or kayaks.
Fortunately,
during weekdays and cold winter weekends
the seals are usually left
alone to bask in peace for the entire resting cycle.
Weekends on warm,
calm spring days are a challenge for seal
observation. If you want to see
a lot seals on nice days, your best bet is to arrive
early in the haul-out period.
·
At Rome
Point, the period from 2
hours after low tide to 2 hours after high tide is
not as good for seal
observation. You may see a few seals, but the
haul-out rocks are mostly
submerged and most seals have moved to open water to
feed.