Earlier this month, RCMP in Prince Edward Island received quite an unexpected phone call—a baby seal was causing a traffic jam along Route 18A in Murray Harbour.
As it started to get dark, bystanders called to report a small seal waddling along the road during rush hour. Officers who located it noted the pup was “agitated and uncooperative,” but they managed to safely return it back to the waterfront.
Just four hours later, the RCMP received another call about another baby seal on the loose, this time along Route 107 in Beach Point. Again, the officers captured the seal and placed it back on a nearby beach.
But the reason why the mischievous seals made it onto roadways in the first place is somewhat concerning: a changing climate and a lack of ice.
Every year from January to April, grey seals will have their pups along the Northumberland Strait, the body of water between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia. Typically, mother seals will seek solid ice to do this, but a lack of strong ice formation means they are forced to give birth on dry land instead. This can result in baby seals getting into some tricky situations.
Tonya Wimmer, executive director of the Marine Animal Response Society (MARS), an organization that responds to marine animal incidents throughout the Maritime provinces, is used to these kinds of calls. “This is the time of year we are inundated with calls about seals that are near shore or on roads,” she says.
So far this year, Wimmer says the number of calls MARS received about wandering seal pups in the Maritimes is roughly on par with recent years. A lack of ice is to blame. “If the ice isn’t very good in the southern Gulf around P.E.I. and Cape Breton, seals give birth on land and on beaches instead of on the ice,” she says.
“In our experience, we do tend to get calls of more pups having perished if the ice has been particularly bad that year,” Wimmer says. “When there’s really great ice, we don’t get as many calls.”
Similarly, if a mother seal opts to give birth on weak ice, MARS may see an uptick in pup mortality. “If they were born on the ice but it wasn’t thick enough, the animal may fall through or fall off,” she says. “They unfortunately perish, because they aren’t great swimmers.”
With this in mind, Wimmers says the changing climate is a concern. “As our oceans warm, the ice these animals need isn’t there. The environment is changing, so these animals are going to places they didn’t used to go. We’re not used to it, and they’re not used to it.”
During pupping season, baby seals end up all over the place. Newborn grey seals, which can weigh around 35 pounds at birth, can cover quite a distance. “They look like they can’t move very much, but seals are quite deceiving in how much they can actually travel,” she explains.
However, if you see a seal wandering along roadways, it’s not wise to approach it. Though newborn grey seals look adorable, Wimmer says don’t forget they are wild animals. “There is a potential hazard for people. Seals can bite and carry diseases,” she says.
So leave the rescue missions to the pros. “Peoples’ instincts are to pick these animals up,” she says. “But if you’re not an authorized individual, it’s highly illegal to approach or handle any marine mammal, including seals.”
Similarly, the organization does not recommend returning the seal pups directly to bodies of water. “Newborns are not great swimmers, so putting them in the water can actually cause more harm,” she says.
Instead, there are organizations to call if you see a seal pup on the loose. MARS has a toll-free hotline, while Fisheries and Oceans Canada has a mandate to protect sea animals, and often, emergency responders such as RCMP, local police departments, or fire departments are certified to respond.
“Seal pups are very beautiful and very appealing to folks. They’re really charismatic and they do sometimes end up in these problematic locations,” Wimmer says. “But remember, these are wild animals, so folks should not take things into their own hands.”
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