Stranded harbor seal pups are being tagged, monitored
Published 10:00 am Monday, July 16, 2012
Harbor seal pupping season is in full swing in San Juan County.
Harbor seals are the most numerous marine mammals in the Salish Sea and there are almost 5,000 harbor seals in San Juan County alone. Seals pup every July giving birth to pups weighing about 22 pounds. They’re not very fat when first born and are only able to follow their mothers in the water for brief periods, usually preferring to remain onshore while their mothers are out foraging. Mother seals nurse their pups for four to six weeks, in which time pups more than double in weight. After that, pups are left to fend for themselves.
Mothers and pups can easily become separated and pups will usually haul out on the beach to stay warm. If you see a seal pup on the beach keep people and pets away from the animal and call the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network at 1-800-562-8832. This program, run through The Whale Museum, responds to all live and dead marine mammal strandings in the county. Trained Stranding Network members will return your call then make a decision whether to tag the pup and leave it on the beach or bring it in for rehabilitation at the Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on San Juan Island.
Pups that are left on the beach are tagged to identify them and monitor them to see if they reunite with their mothers or need further attention. This summer stranded harbor seal pups will not only get tagged with a flipper tag, but also with temporary hat tags, which are easier to see from a distance and while seals are in the water. Hat tags will allow researchers to gather valuable information about seal movement. The tags are glued to the hair on the pup’s head and fall off when the pup molts its coat the following year. SeaDoc Society and Whale Museum interns Karisa Tang and Christine Parker (both 3rd year UC Davis veterinary students) deployed the first hat tag, number J9, earlier this week on a 20-pound female pup that stranded on Yellow Island. Anyone who spots a seal sporting a hat tag is asked to please call the Stranding Network Hotline (1-800-562-8832) and leave a message indicating the number on the hat tag, the location of the seal, and any other pertinent information related to your sighting.
