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New England awash in seals
It's a sight New Englanders aren't entirely used to seeing: thousands of seals swimming through Long Island Sound or hauling out to Maine, where they like to have their pups. Seals traditionally have migrated into southern New England waters in the winter. But as their numbers have grown after passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, an increasing number of seals crowded out of Maine and Massachusetts waters have been looking to make southern New England their permanent homes. As many as 100,000 harbor seals can be found in New England waters, and yet what is known about these mammals is very little... In addition to the harbor seals, there are between 5,000 and 7,000 gray seals that usually haul out in the winter to Muskeget Island, located between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, to have their pups. There are also a number of harp and hooded seals that researchers believe are breeding in Canadian waters and only coming down to New England during certain times of the year, said Gordon Waring, a research fisheries biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service... Maritime Aquarium officials received a handful of calls from residents last winter saying they had a seal on their property...Just a little pleasant New Year's news, from someone who used to sing duets with the seals of Monteray. Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-01-02 |
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