STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1995
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Greenland; Kenney; Payne; harbor seal; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.432.4009; http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm114/pdfs/142.pdf

The harbor seal is found in the western North Atlantic, from the eastern Canadian Arctic and Greenland south to southern New England and New York, and occasionally to the Carolinas (Boulva and McLaren 1979; Katona et al. 1993). Although the stock structure of the western North Atlantic population is unknown, it is thought that harbor seals found along the eastern U.S. and Canadian coasts represent one population (P. M. Payne, pers. comm.). Harbor seals are year-round inhabitants of the coastal waters of eastern Canada and Maine (Katona et al. 1993), and occur seasonally along the southern New England and New York coasts from September through late May (Schneider and Payne 1983). Scattered sightings and strandings have been recorded as far south as Georgia (NMFS unpublished data). A general southward movement from the Bay of Fundy to southern New England waters occurs in autumn and early winter (Rosenfeld and Terhune 1988; Whitman and Payne 1990). A northward movement from southern New England to Maine and eastern Canada occurs prior to the pupping season, which takes place from mid-May through June along the Maine Coast (Wilson 1978; Whitman and Payne 1990). No pupping areas have been identified in southern New England (Payne and Schneider 1984). The overall geographic range throughout coastal New England has not changed significantly during the last century (Payne and Selzer 1989). The majority of animals moving into southern New England waters are juveniles. Whitman and Payne (1990) suggest that the age-related dispersal may reflect the higher energy requirements of younger animals. POPULATION SIZE Two abundance estimates for harbor seals are available (Table 1). Since passage of the MMPA in 1972, the number of seals along the New England coast has increased nearly five-fold. Summer aerial survey haul-out counts along the Maine Coast totaled 28,810 animals (Kenney and Gilbert 1994). This number is considered to be a minimum abundance estimate because it is uncorrected for animals in the water or outside the ...