Seals in NJ?

First time I saw a seal in the water while surfing was 3 winters ago. poped its head up while I was paddling out. it did the backfloat right where you would want to be to catch waves. stayed there for almost the entire time. I've never seen them in the waters off long island before that.

 

Seen a couple in R.I., I know this time of year it's common to see them in L.I. Sound.

 

yea, they're here. kinda rare to see one actually on the beach, but they do haul out to rest & take in some sun from time to time. best not to approach them as they will defend themselves. if you think they might be sick or injured, contact the marine mammal stranding center in brigantine. they do good work.

 

Saw one last week Wed. at Indian River Inlet north jetty in Delaware in the afternoon. It popped its head out of the water about 10 yds in front of me as I sat in the lineup. I could of sworn it looked right at another guy 15 yds closer to the jetty than me, then dove underwater. About 5 seconds later the other guy yelled "Holy f%$#! Did you guys just see that seal? He scared the living sh!t out of me." I told him that yes I saw the seal and that I thought the seal scared him on purpose.

 

Probably a Harbor Seal. They're actually fairly common certain times of the year. Stockton College has a conservation program running. They might appreciate the report.

http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/seals/

 

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/va_beach/va-aquarium-seals-are-dangerous

 

Saw a seal the last time i was out a few Saturdays ago in central LI

 

The younger ones tend to be more curious and more docile than the adults. Also, solitary individuals will tolerate human contact better than a pod.

... kinda like surfers.

 

A few years ago at about this time of year, I was in the lineup off Spring Lake, just sitting and waiting for a set and about 10ft in front of me a seal pops up looks at me for maybe 5 seconds then goes back under and disappears...many non-believers when I told this to people afterwards...

 

Saw one in central LI last month while I was waiting for a wave. Popped up about 15 ft from me. His head was massive. Stared at me for a few seconds and then went under. Couldn't find him after that.

 

Ha! So true/

 

I was sitting in the lineup at the Hook one day and the water was really brown... couldn't see your knees sitting on your board. Suddenly this big black football pops up literally right next to me and snorts this big blast of air. I saw him out of the corner of my eye and heard the snort at the same time. It shocked me so much I actually let out a, "whoa!" as I reeled my head around. At that exact moment, he reeled his head around too... we scared the crap out of each other! For an instant, our big, startled, bugged out eyes met before he slipped right back under and darted off. For the rest of the session he sat outside by about 50 or 60 yards, occasionally popping up and checking us out... "You're still here? Go home, kooks!"

 

They pop up every now and then, though I have never seen a healthy one pop up in the line up like you have! Pretty cool. Gotta be real careful when approaching them on the beach because if you can actually walk up to them without them noticing or scampering off, they could be sick. They have teeth similar to a large dog. There is a ton of info about them down in Brigantine at the marine mammal rescue. Very cool.

 

I was surprised when I saw that. I guess Great Whites will start hanging around the north end.

 

There was a 100 or so that spent last winter on the hook. You could see em out on the bars in the bay in big groups like in San Fran or something. My cousin took this vid on his cell phone fishing there last year. His wife posted to facebook..Not sure if it's public, but it's cool. The seal comes right up to check him out.[video=facebook;2128914385435]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2128914385435&set=vb.1323230731&type=3&theater[/video]

 

Typically they hang out on the islands offshore where there are no people, for instance the two islands off of SI in the Raritan Bay are popular spots to find tons of seals hanging around. They are returning more and more every year because of protection to their species.