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Oregon Coast Officials Warn to Leave Seal Pups Alone

Baby seal at Hug Point on Friday morning (photo Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium)

(Oregon Coast) – After a rather serious run of people interfering with resting seal pups on the beach, officials on the Oregon coast have gotten a little testy about getting their message across: “Do Not Disturb!”

Tiffany Boothe, of the Seaside Aquarium, said a recent spate of humans manhandling seal pups on the north coast has brought the subject up again. Sometimes, when these adorable creatures wander onto the beach, the public is temped to grab them or otherwise mistake them for being in danger or in need of saving. But that is not the case, and you should leave them alone.

If you see a seal on the beach, do not assume it’s been abandoned by its mother, said Boothe. In fact, if anything the opposite is true.

“Well-meaning people who remove seal pups from beaches are eliminating the possibility of the pup being reunited with their mother,” said Tiffany Boothe, of the Seaside Aquarium. “They’re also violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and they may face criminal and or civil penalties. The best thing for you to do is to keep well away from this seal pup, thereby reducing stress on the pup and or alarming its mother.”

This past week, two seal pups wandered up in different areas of the north coast – both of them apparently newborn. They were some of the more serious interferences by humans in recent years.

One arrived on the waterfront at Astoria, where it was picked up by a man police described as “difficult to communicate with.” He walked around town with it until he was nabbed by police.

The other wandered up to a spot south of Cannon Beach, where several people attempted to put it back in the water. Later, someone’s dog attacked the cuddly little guy.

“They are just little babies, and like any baby, they need to sleep a lot,” said Keith Chandler, manager of the Seaside Aquarium. “That’s what they’re onshore doing. Leave them alone.”

Chandler added there are leash laws, and to keep an eye on your pet on the beach.

Yearling seal molting two years ago in Seaside (photo Boothe)

The baby seal that was bitten by a dog was soon picked up by a well-meaning man who noticed its wounds. The wounds were not life threatening, but the man took the little creature a few miles up the road to Mo’s Chowder in Cannon Beach. There, staff called the aquarium, which in turn told him to take it back to where he found it.

The important thing to remember, say aquarium officials, is that the mother needs to be able to find it again.

There are other problems with touching these, or any other creatures washed up on the beach – especially the dead bodies of mammals or fish.

Boothe said touching these creatures presents possible health problems. Any kind of marine mammal found dead or alive poses a potential health risk, and untrained people coming into contact with them risk exposing themselves, domestic animals and marine mammals to various types of diseases.

Last year, Boothe and Chandler were alerted to various dead marine mammals that had washed up on shore, including a sea lion whose head had been removed. Such actions, say Boothe and Chandler, seriously pose a risk to those who had perpetrated such illegal acts.

Boothe poses with one cuddly little fellow in August, 2006

Chandler said others in the past have done a variety of really stupid things when it comes to stranded seal pups. One group a few years ago picked the pup up and kept it in the bathtub of their hotel room, then called the aquarium.

Other people have grabbed the creatures and kept them in their car for a while as well.

“We can’t take these or rehabilitate them,” Booth said. “So we always tell them to take them back to where they found them. Otherwise, their mother can’t find them.”

Disease is one of many reasons the aquarium cannot accept or help seals on the beach: they can’t risk infecting their current pool full of seals.

To report other incidents of marine mammal strandings on Oregon beaches, call 1-800-452-7888.

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