A lack of sea ice coverage this past winter is leading to a reduced presence of some seal species in the water surrounding P.E.I.
Joanie Van de Walle, a biologist at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli and an expert in marine population dynamics with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, studies multiple seal species found throughout the North Atlantic.Call for temporary halt: Environmental organization Oceana Canada wants Newfoundland and Labrador capelin fishery to take break
During air observations of the Northumberland Strait and Gulf of St. Lawrence in February and March 2024, not a single pupping harp or hooded seal was recorded. This was the first year that no harp seal pups were seen in those areas, Van de Walle said. “We saw a couple of harp seals, grey seals and harbour seals but not any big patches like we would typically observe during a good ice year,” Van de Walle said.
“On the pack ice, they’re mainly just resting, but here on shore they tend to get a little lost, a little confused. They’ve got immediate access to land and they’re really not sure what’s happening, they’re trying to figure it out, so they just tend to wander sometimes,” Pinder said in an interview on April 15.People who encounter a seal, either on the shore or in an unexpected location are encouraged to call the MARS toll-free hotline at 1-866-567-6277.
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