Community Corner

Give Harbor Seals Space to Roam During Breeding Time

Public asked to be mindful as animals start coming ashore at Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

Outdoors enthusiasts are being asked to be mindful of harbor seals coming onshore in Point Reyes National Seashore beginning March 1, when the seals are breeding and raising their young.

According to the National Park Service, which maintains the park preserve in Marin County, the number of seals breeding at Point Reyes represents about 20 percent of the state's mainland seal population.

Resting and pupping harbor seals come ashore in several areas of the park, particularly Drakes Estero, Tomales Bay, Tomales Point, Double Point and Bolinas Lagoon.

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To accommodate the seals and their pups, from March 1 through June 30, the park's Drakes Estero will be closed to kayaks and canoes. Park officials said the closure also applies to surfers, windsurfers, abalone divers, recreational fishers and other people participating in water sports around harbor seal colonies in the area.

The east side of Hog Island in Tomales Bay is also a resting site for the seals and seabirds, and visitors are asked never to pick up a seal that appears abandoned.

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Visitors should stay a minimum of 300 feet away from resting seals.

It is illegal to disturb harbor seals resting onshore because the animals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

- Bay City News

The photo of harbor seals accompanying this story was taken off the coast of Pescadero, not Pt. Reyes.

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