Phoca vitulina

The harbor seal belongs to an order of marine mammals called the pinnipeds.  This family includes seals, sea lions, fur seals, and walruses.  Seals are mammals, meaning they are warm blooded, have hair, and bear and nurse live young.  Other marine mammals include dolphins, porpoises, whales, otters, and manatees.  Seals breathe air, but spend a majority of their lives in the water feeding, swimming, and mating.  Harbor seals inhabit marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments.  Harbor seals reside in the colder waters of Maine and Canada, but travel south during the winter months.

Seals frequently "haul out" onto rocks to bask in the sunlight or rest during low tide.  This is the time when they are most often observed in the wild.  When the tide is high, the seals return to the water to feed.  They can be very curious and sometimes venture close to boats during foraging.  Seals eat mostly fish and squid, with species varying based on the location of feeding.

When out of the water, harbor seals will pull themselves forward with the claws on their foreflippers.  In the water, they swim using their hind flippers.  The profile of a harbor seal is doglike, with a concave forehead and a short muzzle.  The nostrils form a "V" shape, almost meeting at the bottom, compared with other seals that have a more parallel "||" structure to the nostrils.



Seals are not new visitors to Narragansett Bay, but have been seen in greater abundance in recent years.  In the late 1800s, seals were hunted for food and for their skin.  A bounty was offered to kill seals because they were considered a nuisance to fishermen.  As a result, the population was almost exterminated by the 1900s.  In 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed, which provides protection to all marine mammal species including harbor seals.

Harbor seals can be seen at over 20 haul-out sites throughout most of the Bay, from Warwick and Bristol to Newport and North Kingstown.  Curious observers in boats can have harmful effects on harbor seals, often disrupting feeding and resting behaviors.