Alki had a small visitor who spent over 14 hours resting on the sunny beach today. The yearling was definitely on the small size and was most likely born late in the pupping season last fall. Seal Sitters received a call early this morning from a beach walker and volunteers Larry and Pat were quickly on the scene.

The alert young seal drew quite a number of curious onlookers throughout the day and provided volunteers with an opportunity to educate the public about seals and their haul out behavior. Seals spend about 50% of the time in the water and 50% resting onshore. Volunteers Wes and Julie distributed flyers with facts about harbor seals and guidelines by NOAA regarding marine mammals on the beaches.

Many other dedicated volunteers pitched in and spent many hours ensuring the seals’s safety while onshore. The yearling may have spent such a long time resting today due to the stormy, wind-whipped waters of Puget Sound last night - quite a tiring adventure for such a small mammal struggling to survive.

Volunteers Shanna and her daughters (shown at right) drove all the way from Issaquah. The girls named the yearling Sea Star and spent several enthusiastic hours watching over him. Seal Sitters wants to thank all of our fantastic volunteers who helped out today and put in such long hours!

Tags: Sea Star