Horsehead Seals.. How Big???

[Karl F]

Out on the beach last evening pre dusk.. dead low.. tossing plugs with my son.. delighting in watching 6-8 inch stripers chasing and bumping a 6 inch danny.. then..switched to pencils.. when the "Herds" started swimming by.. .. got a little PO'd and switched to a 3 ounce Hopkins, sans hook, and commenced "accuracy in casting" practise..
(Man.. do they get pissed when you smack 'em upside the head!)

So.. my question.. How big do they get?? .. I saw a behomoth last night, leading a pod of about 20 seals.. googled this AM.. says 8-9 feet and 990 pounds is about tops...

I dunno... I smack this big boy.. (couldn't miss.. huge head).. he dove.. surfaced... looked over at me.. sounded again.. and I am glad it was low water ( I know.. he coulda wriggled right up t o me, if he was so inclined).. he came into shore right in front of me.. till his belly rubbed, poked his head up.. blew his nose at me and turned side to, then, truned back out towards open water).. both my son and I guessed at least 12-14 feet.. I know he would'nt have fit in the back of my pickup...

Anybody else seen them bigger than 8 feet?

[Rappin Mikey]

Yup, I've hooked up with a few of those big boys. They wouldn't even think twice about stealing a 60 pounder if you were lucky enough to hook up with one. Like sardines to them.

[Karl F]

I heard you are good at turning those monster seals Mike.. meybe I see you next week.. depending on what sand is still open then...

been asking this around.. two guys I know real well were coming thru the new cut at Nauset in a 16 footer.. (which is where I was the other night).. and halfway thru they saw a horsehead the size of a "Ford Explorer" one of them said.. the other kinda smiled and said.. "10 foot.. meybe 12.. using the boat as a reference, he went right along side us.. well over a thousand pounds I'd say"..
prolly the same one...

one local who fishes the inlet in Orleans mainly says that 8-9 foot is about the biggest, (which I agree, that's the "norm" for big.. most are smaller) but.. has seen a few bigger, he said he'd guess 12 feet.. with the elephant type head, and they will take large fish from you, once (if and when) you hook up.

[Slipknot]

Last evening at coast gaurd landing I saw what looked like 2 seals Karl, but when it did the popoise/whale humpback thing dive, I could see it was one huge seal, maybe 10 foot or more. Hard to judge since it was a long cast out.
those things are hoovers of the sea I hate them

Like I told you tonight, that is an interesting story and reaction by that seal, they aren't as dumb as some people think.
We have seen them showing off the fish they've stolen from us before, they hold it up like a prize

[baldwin]

I've heard 600-700 lbs.

[Karl F]

Males reach lengths of 245cm (8') and weigh 450kg (990lb), females 215cm (7') and 270kg (600lb). The head is long and the seal is often called the"horsehead" seal. The nostrils form a W. The males are dark with light spots and the females are light with dark spots. Grey seals also have a varied diet including fish, crustaceans and squid.

Got several sites when I googled horsehead, and grey seals.. the above cut and paste, is typical of the results, on all the sites I checked..

Spoke with a commercial fisherman tonight, and he thinks they have gotten not only more plentifull over the last several years, he thinks that they have gotten much larger, and agressive as well.

One thing, the majority of both comms, and recs agree on.. it is well past time, that something should be done, with these "Hoovers of the Sea".. (I like that one Bruce!)

Bring Back The Bounty.

[whiplash]

I'l bet if you boil down one of the big ones you would have enough bio desil to run a truck for a month- what do you think a new fuel source?

[partsjay]

Wait till the sharks figure out they are here.......it's only a matter of time.....it is bound to happen