Seal Sitters’ volunteers are trying to catch their breath after a whirlwind of pups the last few weeks - a veritable pupulation explosion on our shoreline. Why are so many pups drawn to West Seattle? That is a question we’re all asking, including our NOAA stranding expert. Last year from August - December, we watched over a total of 33 different West Seattle pups. Of those, three pups spent 15, 17 and 52 consecutive days hauled out. There were a total of 15 pups from August - October 4th.

This year, from August - October 5th (yesterday), we have already surpassed last year’s five-month total: 35 different pups have now been observed and protected by our West Seattle volunteers! And October is typically one of our busiest months, so we can only guess how many pups we’ll have by the end of the year.

Our 35th pup is shown in the photo here. Nicknamed Spanky, this very robust and alert pup found a nice rock to rest upon before the incoming tide’s waves sent him swimming off into the Sound. This is just the kind of round pup with a thick blubber layer that we want to see this time of year, when too many are becoming thinner and trying to survive. Blacky, who has been using Lincoln Park for several weeks now, has become noticeably thinner the past two sightings. Seal pup Aquarius, who hauled out at Constellation Park for two days in a row, was rescued from that beach Friday, but died at PAWS. We cannot stress enough that seal pups need to rest and warm up undisturbed in order to maintain their strength and keep their immune system resilient.

Tags: Blacky, Aquarius, Spanky