Things continue to be slow on the marine mammal front around West Seattle with no responses to live pups onshore since late November. As our consulting WDFW biologist says, this could merely mean a lack of prey food in our area. Seals tend to haul out close to a food source, so they may have just moved on. We do occasionally see pups hanging offshore, so maybe they are healthier this year - and wiser - and choosing less public spaces to rest.

Our sister stranding network, Sno-King Marine Mammal Response has been busy with one pup who has been visiting a downtown Seattle beach almost daily for over a week. Other networks across Puget Sound have reported a quieter than usual season as well this year.