Yesterday, a team of biologists from Cascadia Research and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations Unit examined a 68-foot fin whale that washed ashore at an Ocean City beach.

The adult male whale was moderately decomposed with most of the skin missing. The lower jaw of a fin whale has an asymmetrical coloration of the baleen (black on the left side and creamy white on the right side), a physical characteristic of this species which aided in the identification of the whale. There was significant bruising and evidence of blunt force trauma consistent with a ship strike.

Fin whales, an endangered species, are the second largest animal in the world - second only to the blue whale. Calves measure 14-20 feet at birth and weigh approximately two tons. It is estimated that an adult fin whale weighs one ton per foot in length. They are very fast swimmers, but were not able to outrun modern whaling vessels which hunted them to near extinction. Numbers have increased since protection by the International Whaling Commission was enacted in 1966.

Dangers still exist for fin whales, however, as ships move through krill feeding grounds where the whales forage near the surface - easy victims for ship strikes. This is the second fin whale to wash ashore this year on Washington beaches, both attributed to ship strikes.

NOTE:
Responses such as the one yesterday by members of NOAA’s Northwest Marine Mammal Stranding Network rely on critical funds from the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant. Recently Prescott funding was slashed from $4 million (for the entire nation) to a mere $1.4 million. Additionally, it has been eliminated completely from the proposed 2014 Federal Budget. These grants fund the scientific research necessary to monitor the health of our marine ecosystem and ensure timely response by groups all across the US to protect both marine mammals and the public. Read more about this essential program and how to contact your congressional representatives to restore Prescott funds.

Tags: stranded fin whale, John H. Prescott Fund

It is official: harbor seal pupping season is now underway in the inside waters of South Puget Sound. A lanugo pup was reported in the Gig Harbor area, but sadly had to be euthanized today. The long, wavy white lanugo coat is usually shed in the womb and indicates a premature birth. It is not known whether the presence of so many people around this pup caused abandonment by the mom or if there was another cause. Please remember to STAY AWAY from any pup resting on shore, keep dogs leashed at all times on or near the beach and call the stranding network for the area. Click the links for a map of stranding networks in the Pacific Northwest: Washington map | Oregon map

Yesterday afternoon Seal Sitters responded to a report from a kayaker of a woman harassing a seal at Constellation Park. He warned the woman, who was trying to force the seal back into the water, to stop and get back. Our responder was on the scene within minutes, finding an adult seal alone at the water’s edge. It was obvious that the seal had serious health issues. Shortly after consulting by phone with WA Department of Fish and Wildlife’s marine mammal biologist, the female seal died. Volunteers carried the 125 lb body across the long stretch of beach up into the woody debris. Since the biologist would not be able to pick the animal up for necropsy until this morning, the seal was packed in ice and volunteers built a small shelter of wood to keep the blistering sun at bay.

The seal was picked up this morning and taken for necropsy by WDFW. This evening we received the sad news from biologist Dyanna Lambourn that the small female, estimated to be around 4-6 years old, was postpartum, having given birth about two days ago. The cause of death was most likely due to an infected uterus; however, sterile brain tissue samples were sent to Washington DC for tests.

It is conceivable the female gave birth somewhere in West Seattle or nearby. We are asking all waterfront property owners and those who walk along the beach to please be on the alert for a newborn pup. A pup can live for about a week and a half without nourishment from the mother. Call Seal Sitters hotline @ 206-905-7325 (SEAL) immediately if you see any marine mammal, dead or alive, on shore.

We still have a number of last year’s pups, now close to a year old and called yearlings, using Lincoln Park and the Alki platforms (including one very chubby one at Constellation Park on Sunday), so a pup you see may not necessarily be a newborn or recently weaned pup from this 2013 season. Please, however, call us asap regarding any pups you see on the beach, staying well back to avoid stressing out the animal or scaring him back into the water.

NOTE: We heard reports (unfortunately too late) of a mom and pup at Lincoln Park on Sunday. If you were one of the many folks who were taking photos, please email us so we can verify if it was truly a mother with a newborn pup and, if so, to identify them.

Tags: lanugo

Three very happy seals, one adult and two pups, stretched and posed on a platform just offshore from Alki Beach today. In typical harbor seal fashion, they arched their tails and flapped their flippers, circulating warmth through their bodies - a behavior known as thermoregulation. Both weaned pups, born last year, looked chubby and healthy and were a very welcome sight on a drizzly May afternoon. The Alki platforms have been frequented lately by a number of seals who are able to rest undisturbed by people and dogs.

Soon, a new wave of seal pups will be born in South Puget Sound as pupping season gets underway in mid-late June. We could start seeing some of these new pups on West Seattle’s shores as early as July. There was an unconfirmed report of a premature pup at Ballard’s Golden Gardens recently. The high season for seal pups in West Seattle is Fall. As always, if you come across a pup onshore, stay back and call Seal Sitters’ hotline at 206-905-7325 (SEAL).

Tags: thermoregulation

Harbor seal pupping season is currently underway along the coast of Washington and Oregon. Pups are born a bit earlier in Oregon than in Washington; however, we have reports that several pups have already been born along our southern Washington coast. Shown at right is a seal pup with a lanugo coat (wavy white fur usually shed in the womb) and a remnant of the umbilicus cord. This is a reminder to be alert if you are strolling along ocean beaches. If you come across a pup, please stay back and observe quietly from a distance.

It is normal for a seal pup to be alone on the beach. Occasionally a mother harbor seal will leave her pup to rest while she forages for food, returning to nurse him. If there are people and dogs too close, she may abandon the pup. Most times, however, the pup will accompany mom to learn how to forage. Once pups are weaned at 4-6 weeks, they will be all on their own, using shoreline daily to rest and warm up before returning to the water. Seals of all ages rest on shore about 50% of their day. Undisturbed, stress-free rest is crucial to their survival.

Seal pupping season begins in South Puget Sound in late-June, extending into September. As pups are weaned in our area rookeries, they venture off to surrounding areas. West Seattle’s busiest months for newly weaned seal pups are September and October. For a map showing pupping seasons in the various regions of Washington state, click here.

Click the links for a map of stranding networks in the Pacific Northwest: Washington map | Oregon map

Tags: seal pupping season, lanugo

On Sunday, the streets along Alki Beach were closed to motorized vehicles for a 5K run and, afterwards, people were dancing to live music, strolling along the boulevard and checking out the booths of educational groups and vendors. The festive party lasted until 5pm.

Seal Sitters’ volunteers staffed a booth at the event and launched our “Seal Ambassador” drive, asking local kids to take a pledge to protect our marine environment. Harrison and Annabelle (shown here), students at Schmitz Park Elementary School, are our very first Ambassadors. Thanks to both of them and the additional 33 kids who took the pledge on Sunday! If you’d like to be one of Spud’s Seal Ambassadors, email us here.

178 people stopped by the booth throughout the day, learning about seals and other marine mammals, NOAA’s Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and Seal Sitters’ Year of the Seal (YOS) educational outreach project and harbor seal mom and pup sculpture. Our very talented illustrator Lynn created life-size chalk sketches on the street of a gray whale and swimming seal mom and pup, which were a big hit with the public. A table was set up next to our booth, where children colored drawings Lynn created - drawings showing what does and doesn’t belong on the beach and in the water, part of our YOS project to show the devastating impact that trash and pollution have on marine life. Flipper hugs to our enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers for spending their day doing outreach and helping marine wildlife!

Tags: Seal Ambassador, Year of the Seal

Flipper hugs and a special thank you to all the volunteers and friends of Seal Sitters that donated to us through GiveBIG. We are very pleased to announce that we raised $2,998.50 on Wednesday.

These new donations will help greatly in our goal to finance the installation of the Georgia Gerber bronze sculpture of a mother seal and her pup - and to fund the educational components of the Year of the Seal project, including the unveiling ceremony and celebration event at Alki Beach on September 8th. We still have quite a ways to go to meet our financial needs for the project, but this is a fantastic start!

We will continue to seek additional funds throughout the year to meet our funding needs. Donations can always be made through the blog and website.

Thanks so much for making this sculpture dream become a reality! Find out more about our Year of the Seal educational outreach project.

Tags: Year of the Seal

A seal pup, estimated to be about 9 months old, gave Seal Sitters a pleasant surprise on Mother’s Day, coming ashore near Lincoln Park’s Colman Pool. The hotline suffered a bit of a technology glitch Sunday morning so our response was not quite as swift as usual. Flipper hugs to Sean who called in the report and stayed on site until our responder could arrive to establish a tape perimeter.

That began a long day for volunteers, watching over the pup, nicknamed Carnation, until dark. Walkers, runners and bicyclists had lots of questions - including one woman who was concerned the pup had a head wound. Our responder Lynn assured her that indeed it was the pup’s ear hole and not a wound, a common misconception by people who erroneously report dead harbor seals as shot in the head. In the photo here you can see that harbor seals (unlike sea lions) don’t have external ear flaps.

You can also see that Carnation has some unusually curly whiskers, known as vibrasse. These whiskers, filled with highly sensitive nerves, help seals locate food in the dark and in deep waters by picking up vibrations from moving prey. One recent scientific study reveals that seals may not only be able to detect fish up to 600 feet away using solely their whiskers, but also the size and shape of prey. Researcher Wolf Hanke says, “This strongly suggests that the seal can sense different species of fish. If the seal can avoid tracking fish that are too small or too big, this saves energy” (NY Times). Each highly sensitive whisker (seals have 40-50 on each side of their snout) has up to 1500 nerves at the base. The research shows that a harbor seal’s whiskers are as efficient at detecting fish as echolocating dolphins.

Thanks to all the volunteers who gave up their Mother’s Day to be an allomother (when a human or other animal provides maternal care for the young born by another) to Carnation!

Tags: Carnation