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SAN JUAN COUNTY MARINE MAMMAL STRANDING NETWORK

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Help prevent seal pup strandings

posted 06/30/03
Once again it's harbor seal pupping season in the islands-and a sensitive time for harbor seal moms and their pups.

From now until mid August offshore rocks will be home to these moms and their pups. According to Rich Osborne, coordinator for the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network, any disturbance could result in harm or death to these animals, especially the pups.

To help give them a fighting chance, the Stranding Network provides the following information:

  • Whether in a boat or on foot, avoid areas where seals rest. Do not approach with 300 feet.

  • Scaring seals off rocks can separate moms and pups. Approaching them is enough to scare these animals into the water.

  • Lone pups will not survive; they will slowly starve to death.

  • If you find a lone pup or a dead, injured or sick marine mammal, call The Whale Museum Hotline: 1-800-562-8832. Do not touch or try to move the animal, do not try to get it back into the water, and don't feed it. Keep people and dogs away.

  • Federal law prohibits the public from touching, feeding, harassing or hurting marine mammals.

"The important thing is to give seal moms and pups their space so strandings can be prevented," says Osborne.

The San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network is a volunteer organization funded and administered by The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor and authorized by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

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