Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) commonly form larger congregations at haul out locations during times of rest and pupping season, but are generally thought to be solitary at sea. Occasionally larger clusters of individuals may be observed swimming near haul out sites, forced bottlenecking channels or mouths of rivers with concentrated prey and restricted space. Recently, isolated occurrences of mass gatherings of harbour seals have been observed in the Salish Sea that were distanced from haul out sites (over 1 km away) or forced bottlenecking regions. In April-June (but primarily May) 2019–2021 juvenile and adult harbour seals in Burrows Pass (Anacortes, WA, USA) were observed in large groups (
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All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
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Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) commonly form larger congregations at haul out locations during times of rest and pupping season, but are generally thought to be solitary at sea. Occasionally larger clusters of individuals may be observed swimming near haul out sites, forced bottlenecking channels or mouths of rivers with concentrated prey and restricted space. Recently, isolated occurrences of mass gatherings of harbour seals have been observed in the Salish Sea that were distanced from haul out sites (over 1 km away) or forced bottlenecking regions. In April-June (but primarily May) 2019–2021 juvenile and adult harbour seals in Burrows Pass (Anacortes, WA, USA) were observed in large groups (
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 2221 | 349 | 76 |
Full Text Views | 62 | 11 | 2 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 131 | 24 | 4 |