Seals at Sandy Hook

[storminsteve]

Just got this e-mail. I was down there the other day and saw them, there must be at least 25 of them fattening up on the food that is there. Anyone have a guess as to what they're eating? Herring, bunker, stripers?:huh:






Seals in Sandy Hook Bay





During the winter, the shoals and sandy beaches around Lower New York Bay seem to magically come alive with the sights and sounds of seals. In Sandy Hook Bay, the winter population of Harbor Seals was estimated to be around 90 to 100 in February. The sight of seals in local waters is an extraordinary comeback. It was once rare to see a seal in New York Harbor, but now people often view seals swimming, or resting on beaches or sandbars along the coast. It is not only common to see Harbor Seals, but Gray, Harp, and Hooded seals too. Seals migrate to New York Harbor from the coast of New England or Canada in the winter.http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs065/1101750088283/img/53.jpg They are attracted here for the same reasons that many people find our local coastline appealing: quiet beaches to rest and relax, and ample seafood to feed on. If you come across a seal, please respect their space: stay at least 50 yards away and do not approach or harass in any way a seal or marine mammal. Please do not feed the seals, and remember to keep your pets on a leash at all times and away from the seals. If you think a seal is sick, hurt or in danger, do not touch or attempt to help it. Instead call the NJ Marine Mammal Stranding Center at (609) 266-0538. In New York, please call the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation at (631) 369-9829

[crosseyedbass]

The only way you guys will get rid of them is if the food leaves or the water gets warmer. You should see some videos of them up north in MA. Guys are fishing and bringing in a bass, and the seal eats half.http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon8.png

[finchaser]

If the seals stay, say bye bye to the bass at the hook. The seals have completely taken over some beaches in cape cod

[rip316]

If the seals stay, say bye bye to the bass at the hook. The seals have completely taken over some beaches in cape cod

Now we have to deal with seals too taking bass. ***. I picked a great time frame to take up this hobby. Very disheartening.

[speedy]

i need a new wallet....:naughty::naughty::naughty::naughty:

[CharlieTuna]

Watch video
Lure great whites close to the beach:scared:
Have townspeople mad at you for endangering their citizens.:lynchmob:
Back down, and let seals take over. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png you folks get the picture. When there were more sharks around, they kept the seals in check. Now, the seals run rampant everywhere. It's no fun, as was said above, when you are fishing and the seals steal your bass. Here is a small reminder why it's so great to have great white sharks around to keep the balance in nature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHnS8_0da6A&feature=player_embedded

[CharlieTuna]

Here is an article some of you folks might find interesting.


Too Many Seals, Not Enough Sharks

The growing seal population on the Cape will be an ever increasing problem into the future. As a commercial fisherman (http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/photos/detail/170/), I can tell you that the local seal population has expanded rapidly over the last 10 years. When I was fishing ten, fifteen, twenty years ago, seeing a seal was a rarity. Not the case at all today.


The seal population here is an issue for a number of reasons, the least of which is the shark population. With the seals now covering large areas of the outer beaches, one concern is pollution from seal waste (http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/pbelem/childrenspool/waste.htm). I have heard from boaters and fishermen that you can smell the seals from pretty far offshore when the breeze is right, or “ripe”. All these seals doing their business all over miles of shoreline cannot be very good for swimmers. Don’t drink the water… it’s too salty. If everyone you saw at the beach (http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/main/category/beaches/) pooped in the water would you go swimming?

The other thing is the effect of an expanding seal population on fish stocks. One concern is the spread of fish-eating parasitic worms found in seal waste. As a commercial fisherman, who fished for codfish 20 years ago in the Gulf of Maine, which had more seals than the Cape did at that time, we knew when the cod we caught were from “up north”. These codfish more often than not had these parasitic “worms” in their flesh. When we brought these fish home to the ports of the Cape, the fish buyers would know as soon as they filleted a few where they were caught. Years ago these worms were rarely found in the codfish off Chatham. These worms are in nearly all the codfish caught now in inshore waters. Last winter we saw that the bellies and livers of many of the monkfish we caught 60 miles south of M/V Nantucket are now loaded with these parasitic worms.
Local fishermen are urging leaders to look into the issue:

The letter said local fishermen, boaters and beachgoers have seen the seal population rapidly expand, and questions whether the increased numbers of seals are responsible for the decline in river herring and commercially important inshore fish.
Bremser said he has been researching the local seal population, “and there’s not a whole lot of data”. But as an inshore commercial fisherman, every scrod (juvenile codfish) that I cut open to bring home to my family to eat is full of worms”, he said. The worms are parasites spread by seal feces, Bremser said. Our fish are basically unmarketable, he said.—source (http://capecodchronicle.com/chatnews/chat081706_1.htm)
It is also widely known that seals eat between 6%-8% of their body weight a day.
There are several seals that hang around the Chatham fish pier (http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/main/entry/chatham-fish-pier/) and I’ll bet some of them weigh 800+ lbs. I’ve seen my brother-in-law feed them skate wings off the back of the fishing vessel DawnT (http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/photos/detail/25/) while unloading at the pier (http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/photos/detail/169/).

Let’s say that there are 1000 seals on the outer Cape beaches. The number is much higher (http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/maps/aerial/o/41.55213095590689/-69.98902559280395/2/), likely near 10,000. Next we do the math, 1000 seals at an average of 500 lbs. each is 500,000 lbs. of seals. Half-a million pounds of seals times .07 (7%) is 35,000.

So a thousand seals can eat 35,000 lbs. of fluke, flounder, river herring (http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/main/entry/run-herring-run/), juvenile codfish, striped bass, etc… per day. How much fish will 10,000 seals eat in a day? Well, that’s 350,000 lbs. of fish per day. Chatham harbor used to be a great flounder fishing (http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/main/entry/the-flounders/) spot, now you can’t even buy a flounder there.

The State of Massachusetts had a bounty on seals up until 1962. It is unlikely that the sharks will be able keep the seal population in check like a bounty did. There has been some momentum in the Town of Chatham to get the Feds to re-assess the Marine Mammal Protection Act and research the effects of the exploding seal population on the area.


http://www.capelinks.com/cape-cod/main/entry/too-many-seals-not-enough-sharks/

[CharlieTuna]

I will say one thing about seals. Cute and cuddly they are not, especially if you come between them and food.:mad:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwno0rwS87c

[paco33]

And if you ever get too close you get to see the nasty teeth and smell the bad fish breath!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wxev4ojMNg&feature=related



Storminsteve, I would guess they are eating herring and small stripers, unless the bunker have come in early this year.

[bababooey]

Hey speedy if you ever get into the seal wallet making business, put me down for 2.;):HappyWave:

[finchaser]

I'll take a vest

[surfwalker]

I've seen a few floating by in the current, kinda scared the doo doo outta me in the dark. All I could see were their eyes staring back at me in the dark. By the way, I'll take a small wallet. Any seal skin plugs available?

[speedy]

ya never know

[vpass]

I want to live line one.:drool: There should be some Greatwhites around.:kooky:

[finchaser]

Were going to upset PETA and the rest of the tree huggers with this talk

[speedy]

:2flip::2flip::2flip::2flip::2flip::2flip:...them

[fishinmission78]

Were going to upset PETA and the rest of the tree huggers with this talk

One of my unfulfilled goals life is to **** off every PETA freak I can. Eff them. And if your life is that empty that you need to hug a tree, go cry to a shrink that mommy and daddy didn't love you enouth. Stay off of my surf! Sealskin plugs, I bet they would be as good as eelskin.

[rip316]

What those 3 guys said.^^^^

[dogfish]

You guys think that's bad? Come up to MA for a few months, you'll be glad to get back to the few that ya got down there. Bunch of whiners, where's the waaambulance?:moon::waaah::laugh: :HappyWave:
PS Seal steaks, with a little old bay, are delish!

[bababooey]

Speedy, any chance of you making a sealskin coat as well? My wife would be happy with something unusual, and it might score me some brownie points big-time.:pig:

[7deadlyplugs]

Some of you guys are joking, I hate them too. Here is some evidence that they are starting to impact the commercial fish stocks. Did you know that an adult seal can eat 2 tons of fish /year?:eek:



Jack MacAndrew- March 31, 2011 - Charlottetown, PEI-

For years the fishermen plying the waters off eastern Canada have insisted that the burgeoning herd of grey seals was plundering the fish stocks of the region , gobbling up a variety of species , from codfish to pelagic varieties like herring and mackerel.
Their complaints were largely ignored.

As a result , the grey seal population has boomed from 10,000 animals in 1960 to an estimated 400,000 animals in 2010 , the largest number measured in over 200 years ; and increasing by more than ten per cent in some years.

An adult grey seal will consume between one and two tons of fish each year.They also transmit a parasite , a larval sealworm , which enters the flesh of the cod , making the flesh of the fish less valuable for human consumption.

But now , at long last , fishermen's anecdotal evidence making seals a major predator of valuable commercial stocks has been vindicated.

A panel of scientists appointed by Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea to examine the scientific evidence has concluded that the grey seal is a major predator competing with the fishermen , and controls are in order to limit the further expansion of the herd.
The results of their study have been passed to Minister Shea for her consideration.
The latest panel contradicts the findings of a previous study conducted in 2001 , which found that " ...there was little evidence that seal predation was having a major impact on most commercial fish stocks. "

That comes about because "...considerable new research has been conducted on seal population size , changes in the natural mortality of fish and the impacts of predators. "
That new research caused a workshop analyzing latest evidence to conclude that "... the weight of indirect evidence suggested that grey seal predation could account for much of the high natural mortality of southern Gulf cod ." The panel points out that 3 distinct herds are found in 3 marine ecosystems within the geographic range of the grey seal. One is the Gulf of St. Lawrence , the other two are on the Scotian Shelf.The highly mobile grey seal forages in the ocean from Georges Bank on the southern boundary of their range, to the northern extremity of the Gulf of St.Lawrence.
In all three areas cod stocks have declined at least 80 per cent , and have shown little sign of rebounding even though commercial fishing has been banned for two decades.
While there have been other contributory causes for the decline of cod stocks , the scientific panel concluded that " predation by grey seals was likely the greatest contributor to the increased mortality in large southern Gulf cod" , as well as " the high natural mortality of winter skate and white hake, two species at high risk of extirpation in the southern Gulf."

The scientific panel says that if cod and other stocks are to be given any chance of survival , the grey seal population must be reduced in numbers.
The question is - by how many individual animals?

Lowering the natural mortality of cod in the Southern Gulf to an acceptable 0.4 ( the point of recovery ) , would require a 70 per cent cull from a foraging population of just over 100,000 seals .

While the grey seal is not considered to be as important a factor in the recovery of cod stocks on the Scotia Shelf, the herds are much larger than those in the southern Gulf . The scientific panel suggests that removal of pups along with contraception of females when the herd comes ashore on Sable Island is a preferred way of population control.
The panel recommends the " Design of a controlled experiment to test impact of grey seal targeted removal on mortality of southern Gulf cod " , to test the hypothesis "...that the reduction of grey seal numbers....would lead to recovery of cod and other groundfish populations there . "

Action , if any ,on the findings and recommendations of the study now awaits decision of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans . With a federal election now underway , it is unlikely any serious consideration will be given to grey seals and codfish until a new government is sworn in sometime after May 2.

[wish4fish]

dude we can see that wit our own eyes and now the science dudes are sayin it its time we do something about them damn seals before there r no stripers left!

[finchaser]

bring in Eskimo's they'll take care of them

[rip316]

bring in Eskimo's they'll take care of them

What will PETA ever think of that comment.:2flip::2flip::2flip: PETA:beatin::beatin::beatin:

[finchaser]

PETA= People Eating Tender Animals

[speedy]

yeah just eat the small ones they are tender lol

[wish4fish]

dude i want to see some seals get chopped up by sharks i wish the big sharks would come in and bite them to pieces.:kicknuts:

[finchaser]

They need to get rid of them before it gets like Cape Cod plus bass have enough pressure on them




http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/down-the-shore/item/76740?linktype=hp_blogs?utm_source%3Ddown-the-shore&utm_medium=social&utm_content=test&utm_campaign=social-inbound

[hookedonbass]

Thanks for posting. Was up there yesterday and saw one.

[surfstix1963]

Yeah we have them out by Cupsogue in Westhampton now they do tours so people can see them.Years back they were all over and that was the end of some great flounder fishing.

[lostatsea]

I heard they are all over cape cod too.

[cowherder]

even in sandy hook bay hanging out on the ice! found this on the net

[storminsteve]

Well if they're there there must be some kind of food. Herring? I thought they would have cleared out with the water being so cold?