The Secretive Pacific Harbor Seal

By Heather Henderson, Marine Program Manager

Harbor seals are found in nearly every ocean across the globe. There are even two local sites in Malibu that support year-round populations, and yet our Marine Mammal Rescue Team receives only one or two reports per year about a harbor seal in distress. How can this be? Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are very shy and go to great lengths to keep their distance from humans. They are phocids, or true seals. Phocids can locomote on land, however their grace and comfort are exhibited in the water. They slyly float and swim through kelp beds and quietly bob at the surface. When hauling out of the ocean to warm up and rest, they choose small rocks surrounded by water instead of crowded sandy beaches.

There is a good chance that when you are in the ocean or near the water’s edge, a harbor seal is keeping a close eye on you without you noticing them. While diving or kayaking a curious harbor seal may do a swim by, but unlike the gregarious California Sea Lion, they are unlikely to engage. Harbor seals are so shy that when a mother leaves her pup on the beach to go out and forage, she will delay returning if people are nearby. Concerned beachgoers, assuming that a young seal was abandoned, have caused pups to become orphaned by remaining too close to and preventing the mom from returning.

If you encounter a harbor seal hauled out on the beach, do not touch them. Even if they are young and/or injured they are easily startled back into the ocean, which prevents aid from being given. If you see a seal in need of help and the animal acknowledges your presence, then you (or your dogs) are too close! Immediately step back 50-100 feet, take a zoomed in photo and call our local marine mammal rescue team for advice.

Pacific harbor seals are a wonderful part of the biodiversity of our coastline. Please enjoy them from a distance!