Monday April 15, 2024 - The wind forecasters completely missed the mark this afternoon, and the seals were clearly not pleased with south 20+ mph wind. We did not see one single seal, hauled-out or swimming, in the hour we spent on the beach. This is a remarkable observation in its own right, as we almost always see some swimming seals, even on days when the haul-out count is reported as zero. This makes three observations in a row when seals have been in short supply, and we will be interested to see how many seals are still around when the low tide switches to morning hours later this week.

There is a lot of east wind in the forecast for this week, so we are not certain when the next good seal observation opportunity might occur. Spring 2024 will be remembered in observation logs as a season of unrelenting wind, often coming from directions that were not favored by the seals or the seal watchers. Our records show that after mid-April the seal count drops off rather suddenly, so we would be surprised to see large numbers of seals still hanging around by the full moon tides at the end of the month. We are awaiting the next relatively calm or westerly wind, which look like it might be Saturday. As of today, Saturday 9:30 to 1:00 looks like the best seal observation opportunity in the upcoming 5-day period.

We took a look at our past seal counts today, as we were curious when we had last seen over 150 seals on the rocks at Rome Point. It turns out that March 27, 2021 was the last seal count that exceeded the 150 seal benchmark, and we have to go back to spring 2018 to see multiple consecutive counts of greater than 150 seals. We were aware that the past several seasons we have been seeing fewer seals than we have in years past, and some of that can be accounted for considering the lower number of observations that we made during the Covid years of 2020 and 2021. Spring 2022 and 2023 were very busy years for our small business which resulted in less free time for seal watching during those spring seasons, which is a factor that makes drawing conclusions from our observation records more uncertain. Still, we would assert that there are not as many seals making there home in Narragansett Bay as there were 10 years ago, for reasons that we continue to ponder as our seal counts gradually become slightly lower each season.

One good thing about a windy day... the wind serves to keep boats and kayaks away. Pleasant Spring weekend weather brings with it the possibility of watercraft activity in the area, which can spoil an otherwise perfect seal day if paddlers or boaters scare the seals away. This time of year we make an extra effort to arrive at the beach 2 to 3 hours before low tide in an attempt to to stay a step ahead of seal-watch-spoiling boats or kayaks. Check back here for reports and updated forecasts, we hope to see you on the beach soon!

The links below connect to short seal videos we posted on YouTube for your seal watching amusement.  Seal Pup Follies was recorded in Maine in June 2012 and Linebelly Rising is a short clip showing the former Rome Point kingpin climbing to the top of his favorite pointy rock. 

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