Maybe all the nosy Seal Posse people are scaring them off
Volunteers with Baynet are reporting people disturbing the animals at the Hopkins Beach Rookery in an off limits area.
The animals are very skittish and will flee the beach if spooked by human activity.
“Right now we’ve got some pretty delicate situations among the harbor seals, there are a lot of pregnancies,” said Thom Akeman with Baynet.
The fear is people on the beach will scare mom off of the beach, either before delivery or after, leaving her separated from baby.
Akeman said it has already happened twice this year.
“We had two seal pups born over the weekend in rocks, while that is normal for harbor seals, that is not normal for this colony,” he said.
The harbor seals at Hopkins Beach usually deliver pups in the sand where it is easier and more protected. Akeman thinks these two moms may have been scared off the beach by people.