We are constantly being asked, “Where are the pups?” For the most part, pups in our area are still with moms in the rookeries, nursing and learning to catch fish on their own. Since South Puget Sound’s pupping season is from mid-June to September, it is possible there are still a few pregnant females around. In fact, the Hood Canal region’s harbor seal pupping season is from August - October, so many pups are just now being born there. View a map of Washington’s pupping timeframes here.

There have been a number of pups on the beaches of Whidbey Island, Everett, Tulalip and West Seattle - all very young and some with umbilicus still attached. Shown in the photo above, a chubby and active newborn pup (note umbilicus cord) rests with a very attentive mom on a logboom in the north end. Seals often use log booms and docks to rest and nurse their young. Seal moms and their pups need this time to rest undisturbed, so observe quietly from a distance. In the rookeries, pups are in various stages of being weaned (pups nurse for 4-6 wks), dependent on the date of their birth. As pups are weaned, they will venture off on their own, following schools of small bait fish - and that is when we will begin to see an influx of pups visit our shores; September and October are the busiest months for Seal Sitters. Sometimes, too, at the end of pupping season as the food source dwindles near the rookeries, moms with pups will travel away from the safety of the rookery in search of food. As always, any time you see a pup alone on the beach, stay back (NOAA recommends 100 yds when possible), keep people and dogs away and call Seal Sitters’ hotline @ 206-905-SEAL (7325).