Too Many Seals
 

I saw a seal today at one of my favorate spring spots ,I never seen one there before ,seems like every year theres more and more, Has anyone else noticed this ? How big of a striper can a full size seal take down , I saw one about three years ago munchin on at least a 24 " one like an ear of corn

I saw one tossing back about a 15 pounder once! One of them big, black monsters from down the backside!

Moosh, my first time out this year I had seals in front of me at a spot in buzzards bay, first time I ever had them with me in there.

I saw alot last year hangin around the mouths of inlets ,

Diggin jiggin that rod is working out very nicely for me you did a great job on it ..

I saw a bunch of them at the race during the MBBA conservation project. They seemed to be following tagger:D:bl::D:bl:. I wish we could train them to go after bloos only.;)

Guys, you may have notice people such as Karl, Slipnot, Rappin' Mikey (among others) and myself decrying seals, and we're not joking - they are a serious threat. If you're seeing them it's only a matter of time until they start taking your fish, and they'll take any size - I've had a 25# snatched from me, know of guys losing larger, even a tuna in the 20# class that a guy had released. If you are seeing the big grey seals (aka horsehead seal) the males weigh in at 4-600+ pounds. There is no pressure on the seal population from predation, so it is exploding. They are eating machines, and after they have eaten all of the easy targets such as skate, fluke, sand dab, etc., they are going to learn to watch you for a bent rod. Bass are easier targets for them than blues because the bass on your line will just wallow out there, while a blue will zig and zag, and the blues even though they are hooked, when they see that seal coming the hook in the mouth becomes a secondary concern to them - you can tell when a seal is after your blue because the blue will act just like a herring with a bass after it.

If you guys are seeing them for the first time, I would estimate your window to be 3-5 years. Sightings will go from being a novelty, to a common occurrence, to nuisance once other food sources become depleted. First it was Nauset, then the rest of the back, then the islands and it would be logical to assume that adjoining areas are next. It is a sad state of affairs.

I had one take a fish well into 30# range 3 feet in front of me last year.:af::crying:

You will not catch a bass big enough that they won't eat it off your line....simple as that.

I agree with the timeline stated above.....on the back beach they were a novelty item for a while. Around 2002 a guy I fish with had a seal grab a fish from the end of his line and we all laughed at what we thought was the story of a lifetime.

We're not laughing now......:hs:

They drive me nuts...last year I lost to Beachmasters fishing in the dark on Chatham...even at night they still do the same thing. There is no winning.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=XjM8QXyrYtY

Seal Season
 

I have seen the big behemoths off the beach at Wasque tossing around bass and albies like they were basketballs. Coming up underneath them and snouting them into the air and catching them.

Imagine the PETA protests that would occur if a bill/law was introduced to cull the herd to preserve the rec/comm fishing seasons.

Imagine the skyrocketing rifle/shotguns sales that would occur. I can hear it now. Couple of dudes in thier pickups, parked on a dirt road next to some cranberry bog at the end of deer season talking about when seal season opens, and getting real excited.

i watched 3 of the fish eating bastages get "re-introduced" to the wild in charlestown sunday morning- they got a free ride down from New Jersey...

The Canadians have noticed that the seals rip out and eat the bellies of cod fish. I was wondering if it is the same for bass and other fish. The fish scientists never seam to find any large bones as i understand it. Maybe the seals just want the livers.

They eat the whole friggin thing - small ones whole, big ones they strip the fillets then swallow the rack. I've had them come along and grab the racks that I have dumped and suck them down. They won't eat bluefish heads, though. I don't know if it is because of the teeth or the plugs sticking out.

The reason the belly was torn out of the blue in the vid is when the seal seized it that's where he got his mouth around, and in the subsequent tug of war the belly tore out and the seal was content with that mouthful (for the minute).

it is just a matter of time before the seal predators make their way to the area.

:splat: ugggghhh don't get me started on seals :wall:

I think they look good with face ornamentation

when i'm incharge........

get rid of the marine mammal protection act and bring back the bounty!!

death to the seals!! death to the seals!! death to the seals!!

just wait.. nature has funny ways of fixing it self. more sharks will eventually find them. :kewl:

of course since sharks aren't cute and cuddly we will then have a "shark problem" and measure will be taken to rid our waters of the evil killing machines feeding on the cute little seal babies. :mad:

and this is why you will never be "in charge"

Here's a thought..... Since people have been catching (and killing) sharks for food and fun, we had already set the stage for this type of explosive growth of seal population. Secondly, since"we" had enected strict rules for the harvest of specific fish species, we allowed those species to make somewhat of a comeback, providing plenty of feeding opportunities for the seals. (see the vicious circle?)
If the seals are not a completely indigenous species 'round these parts, but more of a migrating species, then why not push them back towards a migratory lifestyle..... by allowing culling of the heards.
If the seals feel threatened, they should leave the area, and if they are threatened enough, maybe leave for good.
Think about it: Exactly what purpose do the seals fill in our watery environment? At least the sharks help clean the ocean of dead/dying animals. When was the last time you saw a shark attack a fish on your line or heard of seals doing ANYTHING except looking cute with those puppy-dog eyes?


All the "touchy-feely" tree-huggin, PETA-lovin weirdos will be singing a different song when the seals start wiping out ground fish along their favorite "private beaches" and the seals take over the beach and turn it into a festering cesspool. This is our real-life "nature-gone-wild" scenario, and we can't do a thing (legally).

I wonder what grilled seal taste like?

We already beat the seals to that.

More likely it will be disease or a virus that controls the seal population.

Just recently out on the west coast authorities found quite a few dead sea lions that were shot and killed around the steelhead runs.
I can envision that happening here.

DZ

Just remember to yell "He's coming right for us !" right before you shoot. (from "Hunting with Jimbo and Ned on South Park.)

Why so madd, Matt?

Likwid, maybe you haven't noticed Pleasant Bay and P-Town harbor, I understand your point though, but the seals have a LARGE part in the loss of flounder in Pleasant bay. And I don't like swimming in seal poop anymore than anyone else
We have to ask ourselves who is more important in the food chain, seals or us? I know which way I lean.

In the grand scheme of things? They are.
Fish are a luxury for you.
This isn't SE Asia where you catch a fish to feed your family for 3 days.

To slip thats true likwid, but seals are having an impact on commercial fisheries, and that is not a luxury.

not yet

but if we keep going away from producing food, then we will be in trouble as a nation.

I find the deceasing farming in the country scary. We should be producing more food not less.

What purpose do seals on Cape Cod serve? are they food for other animals? no, they're poop is food for cod which just gives them worms. They just eat everything in sight and cause more problems than they are worth and you or anyone else will never change my mind, they can survive somewhere else and contribute to their grand scheme. I can easily fish elsewhere for my luxury as you call it , and I can buy fish at the market since I can afford it but I choose to catch my own sometimes. If we are forced to share the beach with those bacteria dirty animals, then so be it.

They are part of the ecosystem.

makos, great whites, porbeagels.

They've existed like this in Maine and I don't hear mainers complaining about them. They're EVERYWHERE in downeast maine, always have been.

It *is* a luxury though. You're not starving, you don't HAVE to fish. You won't go hungry if you DON'T fish. You blow hundreds of dollars on making plugs and van staals and whatnot. You don't get up in the morning and say "if I don't go fishing my family will starve today."

Everything you've said here could be said about humans anyways.

They just declared Polar Bears endangered. They eat seals. I see a solution. Ship a few (tens of) thousand north to Canada and put them with the Polar Bears as the only obstacle between them and the sea. Nature will sort the rest.

Besides, it would be an obscure revenge for the bass demolished in the New England Aquarium Big Dig Massacre

ok, about sharks, I'll rephrase the question. Is there a predator that can come close to controlling the seal population on the cape? a dozen or so loses per year to sharks does not qualify in my opinion.

I'm not saying kill them all like that Monomy seagull episode back a couple decades ago. But they're numbers could certainly use some thinning before all the fish are gone and then they will definately leave. 10,000+ seals in the area is a bit much can't you admit that as a human who also fishes?

Polar bears are starving, feed them a seal or 100, good idea.

A dozen or so with a barely recovering population of apex predators that were OH LOOK AT THAT WIPED OUT BY US TOO!

See the issue is, the fish won't be gone, they're not going to wipe out all the bass and bluefish. If the numbers actually got that low they'd move on. You're anthropomorphizing seals. They're not going to stay in one spot and wipe it 100% clean, the only creature that does that is humans. Once a population of food starts getting lower, they'll move or eat something else.

Are there 10,000+ seals? Has someone released these numbers as 100% accurate or are you just guessing?

Yeah they are, and its sad.

Likwid-

I am sympathetic to conservationist points of view in general, but I'm not sure I follow your logic here.

Once humans have f'ed things up and knocked nature out of balance, which with seals happened quite a long time ago, a resource management approach needs to be taken. They are multiplying very quickly, and by the thousands (there are scientific reports of 6,000+ out on the Cape, not sure about the 10,000 number). They are essentially unchecked by natural predators, and they are making a huge mess and ruining the fishing which has a huge economic impact. Something different needs to happen than whats going on right now. Just like deer. Once you kill off all the predators, as we did long ago, you have to allow a hunt or there will be so many deer that they'll pretty much eat everything and starve themselves. Seals are rapidly heading for a similar mess, if we're not already there.

Just my opinion.

Economic impact to who? Inshore dragging is already dead. They cut their own throats long ago.
It hasn't affected sport fishing yet.
And its not like sport fishing is even a blip on the screen of the (for example) cape economy.

And the cycle continues, kill the seals before the predator population comes back, once it does start coming back, too many predators, gotta kill/trap them now.

Do I have an answer? Nope, but hopefully someone will come up with one that will make everyone happy otherwise nothing will get done. Yes, that means you have to work with the tree huggers and plover huggers and comms and peta and greenpeace and rich idiots with summer homes and everyone else despite what you think about them.

I agree with Blitzeeker. I also think that 6,000 is a very modest estimate and the numbers are probably closer to double that. People need to experience what is going on first hand before they pass judgement on others. A controlled hunting season is definitely what is required. In the past five years I have seen a direct correlation between the growing number of seals and the depleting number of species of fish. Not that I like them, but I haven't caught a skate or a sculpin in about three years. An occasional fluke or flounder use to be able to be picked off from the shore a few years back. Not any more. Raking for sandeels is almost a lost cause now, or at least a half day event. My father told me the numbers a few years back. Don't quote me but I'm sure if someone starts to dig they can find the accurate info. I think he said that a full grown seal eats roughly 100+pounds of fish a day. Multiply that by 10,000. Now multiply that by the number of days that fish are in our area, lets say 180. That is about 180million pounds of fish. There is a huge economic inpact on the Cape. Many people I know will not fish there because of the plovers and the seals. Buisnesses are starting to go under.

One other aspect of the seals would be the fact that they may migrate, but not very far. They find a nice place to raise their young, and PRESTO: you now have a breeding rookery. Now the seals will use this as their "center of operations", heading elsewhere to feed, but returning back to the colony.
What this has probably done is set up the perfect opportunity for the seals to hunt up and down the Mass shores and return to their "new homes" to feed their young. After the young have fledged/left the nest, so to speak, the adults aren't just going to leave.
Just like humans, they will eat all that they can within their "home" range, and then proceed to increase their range to find food.
What this means is that the areas close to their nesting sites will be devoid of most larger species of fish, starting with flounder, skates, cunners and porgies.
Think about it: if there is a store 1 block away that ran out of your favorites snack, would you stop going there, or check in from time to time to see if they have it again? Seals would follow the same practice. It's not a "human" trait to wipe out an area of food, we just put a "human" name on it and claimed we caused it first.

speculation.

Won't happen. Don't bother cleaning the .30-06. If ANYTHING it will be done by fish and game, DMF, etc. And if more seals get found popped, they're gonna do a number on fishing on the Cape before anything else.

If there's no sand eels then what were those giant bait balls doing off race point last year? Why were the tuna inshore? Maybe they're gay tuna. :D

The New Yorkers on vacation with their walmart specials are the economy, not the hardcore fishermen.

Your father a biologist?
http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/...-seal/diet.htm

Adult harbor seals eat 5% to 6% of their body weight per day, about 4.5 to 8.2 kg (10-18 lb.).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Seal

The average daily food requirement is estimated to be 5kg (11lb), though the seals do not feed every day and they fast the breeding season.

wow..you have an answer for everything..:rolleyes:

You contribute so much. :sleeps:

Lik-

Fair enough comments, but personally I see no doubt that it has strongly effected both the surf fishing and the economy. I stay up there enough to know for sure that it has effected the hotel owners quite a bit. As for the fishing, that ground has been covered many times.

I'm not saying killem all, I'm just saying keepem in check.