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Friday April 4, 2025 Our late afternoon seal walk today was more for the exercise than for seal observation, but we got to see some quite interesting seal behavior despite the low number of seals present . Warm fronts and cold fronts are going to be rolling through New England like waves on the Rome Point shore, with accompanying unsettled weather. Our hope is fading that the large numbers of seals we were seeing last week will hang around until the next full moon tide, and the the weather and tide alignment is not looking good until the middle of next week. If a weather window opens up tomorrow morning, we are going to head for Rome Point early, mainly because we are curious how many seals will be around on a morning low tide. This time of the year, the seals are the most active, and we enjoy watching the way they carry on when the weather is nice in the Spring.
We have decided to remove the Recent Seal Observation Notes page from this website. From now on, only the most recent observation note will be posted right here on the Home page. We have had a recurrence of an issue pertaining to copyright security such that we cannot continue to make the body of our observational work so readily available. To everyone who enjoyed reading our observation report history we are sorry, but the best we can do to keep you informed about our latest seal sighting is the new Observation Notes section below.
Recent Seal Observation Notes:
Friday April 4, 2025 - 36 seals hauled out, 61 degrees, mostly cloudy, NW 10 to 15, 17:45 We enjoyed surprisingly good seal observation during haul-out time today, considering the low number of seals and poor light for the scope. Some of the seals were exceedingly energetic, including one seal that did 14 consecutive, rapid-fire flipper slaps on the surface of the bay. This seal then rolled over and performed another 8 flipper slaps with the other flipper, and all of these slaps made a sharp sound the we could clearly hear from the beach. Two other seals put on good breaching displays, and one pair of seals splashily writhed while intertwined for 10 minutes in the most amorous display of seal romance we have seen since last Spring. The seal courtship behavior is especially interesting to us, as you need to use the scope to see the details that reveal that the seals are not just playing, they are "fooling around". Today was an illustration of a lesson we learned long ago: some of the best seal behavior observations take place when there are not that many seals around, especially in the Spring.
This time of year it is worth
the effort to try to be on the beach two to
three hours before low tide, as the haul-out
time is when the seals are usually most active.
In addition, it is a good practice to arrive
early in the seals' rest cycle to stay a step
ahead of marauding watercraft, which can spoil a
seal watch by chasing the seals from the area. When the seal count at Rome
Point exceeds the 100 seal benchmark, the
haul-out time seal show rivals almost any
wild animal observation you are likely to
see anywhere in North America. The big seal
show has come to town now, and there may
still be great opportunities to see the
seals before they leave town for the summer.
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.
Video Links:
Tail Biting Jumps March 2020
Seal
Action March 2013
Linebelly
Rising
Big Seal Day 2011
Seal
Pup Follies
Rome Point Seals 2011