A seasonal seal colony potentially over a decade old off the coast of Lewes could be from where the latest uptick of rescued seal pups is originating.
Louis Armstrong, a 35-pound grey seal pup rescued from Assateague Island National Seashore on Feb. 26, is the latest to join the National Aquarium for rehabilitation. He was found stranded and dehydrated with wounds of unknown origin to his face and left flipper.
It is one of three maternally dependent seals admitted to the Animal Care and Rescue Center during the past year.
“The seasonal seal colony off the coast of Lewes has been forming for well over a decade,” said Suzanne Thurman, executive director for the Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute in Lewes. “We aren’t keen to share that information because we don’t want people to harass the seals by trying to see them. It’s composed of grey and harbor seals and they’ll be on the colony from November through April.”
As a result, Delaware is now seeing a number of pups being born in the state, with the first occurring during winter 2014.
Efforts have been initiated to conduct an accurate census of the colony, with the organization applying for the proper federal permits. That is required as seals are protected from the public under federal law by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
According to Thurman, as pups follow food and become separated from the colony, they swim further south and into Maryland waters, where they could potentially become stranded.
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“We’ve seen increasing number of seals for years now, and I’m sure Maryland has seen the same,” Thurman said. “There could be other colonies that spring up as a result. We respond to anywhere from 150 to 200 seals each season, but we’re already in the range of 170. These are beautiful animals, but they’re also wild.”
Aimee Berliner, director of animal health and welfare for the Nation Aquarium, noted grey seals are prone to covering a wide area.
“By their nature, seals are not particularly social animals,” Berliner said. “Grey seals will rely on the security of a rookery population during breeding season, but are otherwise independent.”
Berliner explained a new seal colony in the Mid-Atlantic means the seal population continues to successfully rebound.
“Seals play a role in maintaining a healthy oceanic ecosystem. As a keystone species, seals help maintain a balance in the food web. Seals consume fish, squid and crustaceans. Seals are also important food source for larger predators,” Berliner said.
Give seals space
Penalties for harassing a seal to touch them or take their photo range from costly fines to jail time if found guilty. For that reason, the institute warns the public to keep themselves and pets at least 150 feet away from resting seals on land and 300 feet when in the water.
That mandatory distance with seals in the ocean also applies to boats.
“People should never touch a seal try to push it in the water. Please don’t try to feed it, and the best thing to do if you’re in Delaware, is to call the institute and we’ll send our trained responders to see if it needs any kind of intervention like veterinary care,” Thurman said.
As fellow mammals, seals could also transmit illnesses to pets and humans, she also warned.
In Delaware, the public can call 302-228-5029 to report a seal that might be in distress. In Maryland, call the National Aquarium’s stranding hotline at 410-373-0083 or Maryland Natural Resources Police (Maryland Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Response Program) at 1-800-628-9944. Teams are on call 24/7.
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“While people are excited to get that perfect photo for themselves are a social media post, we ask that they not post a location,” Thurman said. “That’s just a really easy way to protect them from excessive visitation. The sounds of boats and even just the presence of humans is very stressful for them.”
The institute warned that seal mothers who get scared from people will retreat to the water, leaving the pup unattended and vulnerable.
Even for researchers, the task of completing an accurate census requires a safe distance. With a minimum of a year’s worth of data necessary, work has already started to secure the proper research permits from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“We’re working with the Army Corp of Engineers to install a surveillance camera where the pups are occurring, and that will be the best and most accurate information,” Thurman said.
