Feds investigate seal killing on Cape Cod - - Wicked Local - Cape Cod (http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/environment/x1336437131/Feds-investigate-seal-killing-on-Cape-Cod#axzz1PcztDAKx)


"Shooting gray seals used to be a way of life. From 1888 to 1908 and from 1919 through 1962 Massachusetts paid a bounty of $1 to $5 per seal nose. Things turned around once the protection act was passed and the population of gray and harbor seals has been climbing.

“Monomoy (in Chatham) is phenomenal. I did a fly-over last year with a friend and took images – the band of seals was from the tip almost half-way up Monomoy, and like 15-seals wide. Someone told me there were 30,000 seals out there and 10,000 occupy the beaches,” Leach said."

Dead seals add up as officials await results of necropsies - BostonHerald.com (http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1372794&srvc=rss)

RYE — The number of dead harbor seals found washed up on New England beaches is continuing to grow, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.

As of Friday, the count of dead seals found from Massachusetts to Maine had risen to 66, said Maggie Mooney-Seus, public affairs spokeswoman for NOAA’s Northeast Region. Mooney-Seus said more reports of animals washing ashore came in over the holiday weekend. She said a final tally would not be determined until all reports are checked for duplicates.

In addition to more seal carcasses being found, Mooney-Seus said, a whale reportedly washed ashore along the Massachusetts coast. The dead pilot whale washed discovered at Duxbury Beach on Monday morning. Two other pilot whales were seen in nearby waters, as well. Mooney-Seus said it is unclear how the 14-foot, 6-inch long dead whale ended up beached. Results won’t be known until a necropsy is completed, she said.

In the 21st century, do animals not die of natural causes any longer? I'd guess the whale is a coincidence.

It's a shame that the dead seals are harbor seals and not those wretched gray seals.

Is it safe to say that at least 30,000 dumps a day are being taken in the water in that general area?

Is it safe to say that at least 30,000 dumps a day are being taken in the water in that general area?
More. And I think they need to eat something like 10lbs of food per day.

This is a big peeve for me! Some folks say, OH, they are so cute!
I look at them and say, how many stripers are they eating daily?
I do not know a prime Stripe Bass fishing area that is not loaded with them today!
I don’t even know if in fact they are eating Bass.
They need to be controlled ASAP!
Will the folks that think they are cute get in the water with the whites!
I,I,I,I,I,I,I, Don’t think so!
I just want it done legally!
I cut this from a page that speaks to seals.
Adult harbor seals eat 5% to 6% of their body weight per day, about 4.5 to 8.2 kg (10-18 lb.).
This is a lot of something they are consuming!!! Can't be good.
L.

Adult harbor seals eat 5% to 6% of their body weight per day, about 4.5 to 8.2 kg (10-18 lb.).
This is a lot of something they are consuming!!! Can't be good.
L.
Harbor seals aren't really the problem.. at least I don't think so. It's those huge horsehead seals that eat 10lbs or more per day. They are the ones taking the bigger fish.

Not a tree hugger or one who says you should never keep a fish. I’m probably going to get bashed for this but it’s just a thought so go easy on me………….


I know this thread is specific to Striped Bass but overall who is hurting the oceans more? I agree these seals must have a negative impact on Bass and other fish but is it seals or humans who do more overall damage? How many seals were in that area before the Pilgrims arrived (I’m not sure, maybe there weren’t any?) Maybe this is a problem that has never been seen before.

We are quick to point a finger at the seals but we should also point a finger at ourselves. We as humans dump more sewerage and trash and probably take more from the ocean than any single species. I read that over 80,000,000 pounds of herring have been netted this year on Georges Bank, how can that not be devastation. That’s a lot of bait and it has to definitely mess up the whole food chain. Who knows, maybe with more seals there will be more sharks. Mako’s & Greta Whites might become more abundant in the area and feed on the seals balancing everything out (not saying it’s a good thing). Then again, maybe they wouldn’t.

I don’t know. Just a random thought as I sit here trying to work on a rainy Friday afternoon…………………

What do you guys think? Is it 100% the seals fault?

Is it 100% the seals fault?[/QUOTE]

No not 100%. 90% would be an accurate number. Fished the Back from the 70s to 2003. No seal/fish problem till around 2000. Now the greatest Striped Bass fishery in the world has been destroyed.

I would like to think I could speak to the late fifties through sixties.
I saw one in late fifties. Everyone thought he must have been blown off course from the Arctic!
You just did not see them.
If I remember correctly, they started showing up only in the fall and winter in the mid to early 90ties.
Please keep the focus on the seals.
Even then it was only a few. That when they were cute!
Now we have a problem on our hands.
Yes, it is a man made problem,
WE LET THEM GET OUT OF CONTROL!
Like all successful management programs, they need to be controlled.
Instead of the sportsmen paying up, let the folks that think they are cute pay the tab this time!
L.

More. And I think they need to eat something like 10lbs of food per day.

Adult gray seals eat 6-8% of their bodyweight per day.

That makes 2 @ 28" sound like a drop in the bucket....
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

tons of seal poo delivered daily to the beaches that folks swim in, barring high nitrogen counts, that will be blamed on some rich waterfront owners green lawn obsession, or road runoff, or the septic systems at the bathrooms at the beach parking lot.. but not the 10-12 tons per day of fresh nitro rich seal poo, being deliverer daily.. of course, no one really knows how much of that seal poo the cod eat, just ask the worms crawling in your cod fillets the next time you have some....

I don’t even know if in fact they are eating Bass.
They need to be controlled ASAP!

L.


Trust me, it IS a fact
I know from first hand experience and plenty of it.

and yes they need to be controlled
we as the human race try to control the fish in the sea to maximum yield for food and stuff, well as we have done that it upsets balance as seals go unchecked and devour fish and wipe out everything, some species don't even come back to the area like windowpane flounder etc.
something needs to be done = like disease(dog distemper maybe)

deer overpopulate and starve to death/ seals are dying too and maybe it's lack of food because they ATE IT ALL:smash:

Cull the seals - Save the Stripers.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nantucket Seal Attack - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwno0rwS87c)

no, they don't target fish, or fisherman..:rolleyes: ( I think most anyone who has surf fished, the backside of the cape, has experienced the "being followed" by them)...

and when their numbers are up, they tend to get aggressive...if you live in an area and only see a few, they seem timid.. when the polulation gets as high as is it on the cape, their demeanor changes... be it strength in numbers, or just the added cometition for food, and it is hunger motivated.. they are nasty disease ridden sea rats, and don't ever forget that, no matter how "cute" they look.

Good points guys on the seals.

I fished in Hawaii a few years back and they have the same problem with dolfins.