CRESLI Seal Walks and Research at Cupsogue
While we had to end our seal walks in March 2020, we are hoping to begin again in 2021
By: A. H. Kopelman, PhD
2021 Seal walk season:
We hope to begin our seal walks for the 2021 season. Please check back with us soon. Follow the link on the right (Join Our Mailing List) to get on our electronic mailing list, or better yet, become a member and you be notified early.
Stay well, stay healthy, help each other and we will get through this.
Over 24,982 seal encounters at Cupsogue since 2006.
Join us to observe, photograph, and learn about our Long Island's seals.
CRESLI seal walks will take place between November and May. Please note that weather will play a significant role in determining the seal walk schedule. Please call CRESLI at (631) 319-6003 for schedule changes and cancellations. The walks are approximately 1.2 miles round trip and take about 1 to 1.5 hours. These walks are suitable for children.
Please be prepared for the weather, i.e., wear warm clothing in layers. Hats, gloves, warm waterproof shoes are recommended, as are cameras and binoculars. Check the weather for Westhampton Beach and assume that the winds will produce wind chill. It’s better to be a more-on, than a less-on, i.e., having more layers than you need is the right thing.
2019-2020 SEAL SIGHTINGS AT CUPSOGUE with photo links
| Date | Status | Type of trip |
| Saturday, November 23, 2019 | 5 Harbor seals swimming
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Saturday, December 7, 2019 | 90 harbor seals hauled-out on main sandbar, including some old-timers back for their 16th year
| SEAL WALK |
| Sunday, December 8, 2019 | 70 seals seen at 8:30 AM were spooked off the haulout by a slow moving vessel within 2 minutes. By the time we arrived at 10:00 only about 10 were seen swimming
| SEAL WALK |
| Monday, December 17, 2019 | 96 harbor seals hauled-out on main sandbar,
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Saturday, December 21, 2019 | 103 seals were hauled out on the main sandbar during an early monitoring session, but once again had been spooked off the haulout while we were away. When we arrived at 10:00 only 8 hauled out rocks. PHOTOS UNAVAILABLE | SEAL WALK |
| Sunday, December 22, 2019 | 113 harbor seals were hauled out on the main sandbar during our early monitoring session. Unbelievably, yet again, they had been flushed from the haulout by the time we returned 2 hours later.
Surprisingly, we found 30 seals hauled out on a distant sandbar northeast of the usual haulout (secondary haul-out site). With patience, we were ultimately watch 30 additional harbor seals haul back onto the main haulout site!
| SEAL WALK |
| Tuesday, December 24, 2019 | 127 harbor seals were hauled out on the main sandbar
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, January 05, 2020 | 102 harbor seals were hauled out on the main sandbar
| SEAL WALK |
| Friday, January 10, 2020 | 25 harbor seals hauled out on their secondary region of the sandbar, utilized when disturbed from the main area
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, January 12, 2020 | 73 harbor seals (70 on seals were hauled out on the main sandbar and 3 on rocks)
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Saturday, January 18, 2020 | 87 harbor seals (78 on seals were hauled out on the main sandbar and 9 on rocks)
| |
| Sunday, January 19, 2020 | 64 harbor seals (61 on main sandbar and 3 on rocks)
| SEAL WALK |
| Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | 137 harbor seals (130 on main sandbar and 7 on rocks)
Prior to a seal walk for the Saxon Middle School of Patchogue, @DrArtieK photographed and took video of 137 harbor seals hauled out (130 on the sandbar and 7 on the rocks) at Cupsogue. With the school group, we stopped at the newer parking area just to get a glimpse of the seals from a distance. We watched in disbelief as an airplane (C-FBKB of Kenn Borek Air Limited) flew over the seals and spooked all into the water. The plane continued to fly over the area repeatedly and we were able to get clear photos to send to the authorities
| SEAL WALK FOR SAXTON MIDDLE SCHOOL (PATCHOGUE) |
| Friday, January 24, 2020 | 17 harbor seals (12 on rocks and 5 in water)
Prior to this seal monitoring session, @DrArtieK noticed a guy in a wet-suit eastward down the road to the parking with his dog (light colored lab). Dr. K. had a bad feeling that the seals were gone. The man got in his car and drove down to the area where we take people to view seals, he loaded his paddleboard and drove past. Of course the seals were not on the sandbar and about 12 were on the rocks with about another 5 swimming. Dr. K. didn’t see him spook the seals, but knew he had done so (he's done it repeatedly).
Harassment is defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) essentially as any action that causes a marine mammal to significantly alter its behavior. Folks, if you ever see someone purposefully or regularly causing harassment, please try to capture it on video and contact me (ahkopelman@cresli.org). I will share with you the contact information for NOAA Fisheries and NYSDEC Police enforcement agents.
We are so lucky to live in a place where we have 19 species of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and 5 species of seals (pinnipeds).
Let's share the waters with them in peace.
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, January 26, 2020 | 105 harbor seals on main sandbar
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, February 02, 2020 | 157 harbor seals on main sandbar
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Saturday, February 08, 2020 | 31 harbor seals hauled out during a monitoring session prior to the scheduled seal walk. These seals were exceedingly nervous and most appeared to have recently left the water. The behavior was most-likely the results of prior harassment. 20 harbor seals were hauled-out when we arrived later for the seal walk
| SEAL WALK |
| Sunday, February 09, 2020 | 60-80 harbor seals hauled out during a monitoring session prior to the scheduled seal walk. Just before we were ready to document the haulout with photos, a single-engine propeller plane flew south of the haulout area just over the ocean. The moment these seals heard this plane in the distance, all of them jumped into the water. Once again, this behavior was most-likely the results of prior harassment by the same aircraft. 16 harbor seals retuned to the sandbar 25 minutes later. 1.5 hours later, 6 harbor seals were eventually found swimming near the near-shore rocky haulout area during our seal walk after 25 minutes after we arrived.
| SEAL WALK |
| Monday, February 10, 2020 | 78 harbor seals on main sandbar
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Wednesday, February 12, 2020 | 133 harbor seals on main sandbar
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, February 16, 2020 | SEAL WALK | |
| Monday, February 17, 2020 | 177 seals (176 harbor seals and 1 juvenile gray seal) hauled out during a monitoring session prior to a scheduled seal walk for Stony Brook University MAR395. Once again, a single-engine propeller plane flew south of the haulout area just over the ocean. The moment these seals heard this plane AGAIN in the distance, all of them jumped into the water.
This time we were able to capture the plane's # and though social media were able to find out whom to contact regarding the plane owners and the flying school who's training flights have been causing the seals to flush. We hope that theyv are able to effect changes in where or when they fly.
| SEAL WALK for Marine Mammals Research Techniques course at Stony Brook Southampton |
| Saturday, February 22, 2020 | 138 harbor seals hauled out
| SEAL WALK |
| Sunday, February 23, 2020 | 110 harbor seals hauled out
| SEAL WALK |
| Monday, February 24, 2020 | 124 seals (123 harbor seals and 1 juvenile gray seal)
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Thursday, March 5, 2020 | 201 seals (200 harbor and 1 juvenile gray) prior to a walk for the Greenport Elementary School 5th grade.
Amazingly there were 218 seals (217 harbor and 1 juvenile gray) when we arrived
| SEAL WALK FOR GREENPORT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 5TH GRADE |
| Saturday, March 7, 2020 | 30 harbor seals
Wild, windy, and high water levels
| SEAL WALK |
| Sunday, March 8, 2020 | 182 seals hauled out (1 gray seal and 181 harbor seals) prior and during our seal walk. Once again, as we watched, a private vessel got too close to the seals and 94 seals were spooked into the water. Come one folks, we can do better.
The incident was captured on video and the vessels ID # was sent to the authorities for violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
| SEAL WALK |
| Sunday, March 16, 2020 | 30 seals swimming
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, March 18, 2020 | 192 seals hauled out (1 gray seal and 191 harbor seals).
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, March 24, 2020 | 152 seals hauled out (1 gray seal and 151 harbor seals).
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, March 27, 2020 | 149 seals hauled out (1 gray seal and 148 harbor seals).
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Saturday, April 4, 2020 | 104 seals hauled out (1 gray seal on the ocean side and 148 harbor seals on the sandbar).
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, April 12, 2020 | 3 harbor seals seals swimming in Moriches Bay and 1 gray seal pup hauled out on the ocean side
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Thursday, April 16, 2020 | 76 seals hauled out: 4 gray seal pups and 70 harbor seals on the sandbar in the bay. On the ocean side, 1 sub-adult gray seal and 1 gray seal pup hauled out
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Tuesday, April 28, 2020 | 8 seals hauled out: 3 gray seal pups and 5 harbor seals on the sandbar in the bay.
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, May 3, 2020 | 28 seals hauled out: 3 gray seal pups and 25 harbor seals on the sandbar in the bay.
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
| Sunday, May 7, 2020 | 25 seals hauled out: 2 gray seal pups and 23 harbor seals on the sandbar in the bay.
| SEAL MONITORING SESSION |
Statistics for the 2019-2020 seal season at Cupsogue
3771 seal encounters (3750 harbor seal and 21 gray seal) this season during 43 CRESLI seal walks and monitoring sessions. Harp seals and gray seal pup have been seen on the ocean side beach as well. A truncated season, but one of our most successful.
- 87.70 ± 8.77 (s.e.) seals per sighting overall (n=43)
- 102.22 ± 8.53 (s.e.) seals per undisturbed (i.e., hauled-out; n=37)
Massive seal haulout at Cupsogue, February 2, 2020. 157 seals from CRESLI_ Inc. on Vimeo.
Season passes for unlimited seal walks are available
Best Photos from the 2018-2019 Seal Season
2018-2019 SEAL SIGHTINGS AT CUPSOGUE
| Date | Time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, November 24, 2018 | 11:30 AM SEAL WALK | 2 harbor seals were seen during research monitoring but were unfortunately not seen during the seal walk |
| Sunday, December 2, 2018 | 8:00 AM SEAL WALK | Canceled due to weather |
| Monday December 3, 2018 | RESEARCH TRIP | 77 harbor seals
|
| Saturday, December 8, 2018 | 11:30 AM SEAL WALK | 93 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, December 16, 2018 | 7:00 AM SEAL WALK | Canceled due to weather |
| Monday December 17, 2018 | RESEARCH TRIP | 53 harbor seals
|
| Saturday, December 22, 2018 | 10:30 AM SEAL WALK | 34 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, December 23, 2018 | 11:30 AM SEAL WALK | 24 harbor seals seen during monitoring. Just before arrival for our walk, the seals were chased off the sandbar by a vessel approaching too closely. Please keep your distance from seals
|
| Thursday, December 27, 2018 | RESEARCH TRIP | 53 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, December 30, 2018 | 7:00 AM SEAL WALK | 120 harbor seals
|
| Thursday, January 03, 2019 | RESEARCH TRIP | 110 Harbor seals
|
| Saturday, January 5, 2019 | 11:00 AM SEAL WALK | canceled due to weather |
| Wednesday, January 16, 2019 | RESEARCH TRIP | 132 harbor seals
|
| Thursday, January 17, 2019 | SEAL WALK FOR
SOUTH OCEAN MIDDLE SCHOOL | 132 harbor seals
|
| Friday, January 18, 2019 | SEAL MONITORING WITH
WALDORF SCHOOL OF GARDEN CITY | 117 harbor seals
|
| Saturday, January 19, 2019 | 10:00 AM SEAL WALK | 123 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, January 20, 2019 | 10:30 AM SEAL WALK | Canceled due to weather |
| Saturday, February 2, 2019 | 10:00 AM SEAL WALK | 105 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, February 3, 2019 | 10:30 AM SEAL WALK | 52 seals hauled out early on the sand bar; they were flushed later and about 20 ultimately hauled-out on the near shore rocks |
| Saturday, February 16, 2019 | 9:00 AM SEAL WALK | 122 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, February 17, 2019 | 10:00 AM SEAL WALK | 118 harbor seals
|
| Friday, February 22, 2019 | RESEARCH TRIP | 92 harbor seals
|
| Saturday, March 2, 2019 | 9:00 AM SEAL WALK | 20 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, March 3, 2019 | 9:00 AM SEAL WALK | 92 harbor seals
|
| Saturday, March 16, 2019 | 9:00 AM SEAL WALK | 91 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, March 17, 2019 | 9:00 AM SEAL WALK | 101 harbor seals
|
| Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | RESEARCH TRIP | 104 harbor seals
|
| Friday, March 29, 2019 | SEAL WALK FOR
LITTLE PEEPERS FOREST SCHOOL | 157 harbor seals PHOTOS |
| Saturday, March 30, 2019 | 9:00 AM SEAL WALK | 136 HARBOR SEALS DURING POST-SUNRISE MONITORING SESSION. ALL SEALS ON THE SANDBAR HAD BEEN FLUSHED BEFORE OUR SCHEDULED WALK.
~40 WERE SWIMMING AND ANOTHER 20 WERE HAULED OUT ON THE ROCKS NEAR SHORE.
THE SEALS ON THE ROCKS WERE FLUSHED BY AN ILLEGAL CLOSE APPROACH BY COAST GUARD AUXILIARY VESSELS. THE INCIDENT HAD BEEN TAPED AND A REPORT TO THE AUTHORITIES WILL BE SENT
|
| Sunday, March 31, 2019 | 9:00 AM SEAL WALK | 51 HARBOR SEALS: (28 ON NEAR-SHORE ROCKS & 23 ON SANDBAR) PHOTOS |
| Saturday, April 05, 2019 | SEAL MONITORING
THE WALDORF SCHOOL OF GARDEN CITY | 20 Swimming harbor seals
|
| Saturday, April 13, 2019 | 8:00 AM SEAL WALK | 22 harbor seals |
| Saturday, April 14, 2019 | 8:00 AM SEAL WALK | 128 harbor seals - dense fog
|
| Sunday, April 16, 2019 | SEAL MONITORING
THE WALDORF SCHOOL OF GARDEN CITY | 109 harbor seals |
| Saturday, April 27, 2019 | 8:00 AM SEAL WALK | 17 harbor seals
|
| Sunday, April 28, 2019 | 8:00 AM SEAL WALK | 14 HARBOR SEALS HAULED OUT AT THE FAR NORTHEASTERN OF THE SANDBAR. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN IN 14 YEARS OF MONITORING
|