Expert Weighs In On Harbor Seals Population

The Monterey Bay’s harbor seal population may be getting a break, after several years of having to look harder for food. Wildlife volunteers say a recent sighting of more than a hundred seals at Hopkins Marine Station Beach in Pacific Grove, could be a sign the local population will see a boost. But it may be too soon to tell. Harbor seals are a Central Coast fixture. Though they look at ease on the beach life hasn’t been easy over the past few years. Bay Net volunteers with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary say warm water has caused their food supply to leave the shore. Though large groups of them have been sighted recently, experts can’t officially determine if the population is growing or shrinking. “This time of year it’s really tough to tell because their spending a lot more of their time out there hunting and fishing that kind of stuff” says Lisa Emanuelson, Volunteer Montoring Services with Bay Net. “Trying to plump up for when they actually have their babies and they’re on the beach a little more” Their population decreased locally over the last couple of years, a cause for concern. But Emanuelson and the folks at Bay Net say the past can’t indicate what the coming years will bring. “You can’t look at one year and say that everything’s great you have to look at sort of on the larger scale so things kind of balance out overall.” says Emanuelson. In the meantime, Emanuelson says that we as the public have a role to play in our local harbor seal’s lives. “We need people to keep their distance and animals, they don’t know that people just want a picture or they just want to look and so they’ll expend energy to get back in the water at a time when they should be out of the water and resting.” Emaunelson said. As for when we can know how the overall harbor seals population is doing, volunteers say we have to wait for pup season this spring.