Seals by the CG station

[Detour66]

There is a lot of seals by the CG station off SH. They can be seen often on the rocks during low tide. Does anyone know what they might be feeding on? Someone told me they are feeding on bunkers but I think they it's to late in the season for that? I'm just hoping they are not chowing down on what little winter flounder we have left in the bay.

[Ol Pedro]

Herring?

[Duffman]

Been taking the wife to take pics of the seals for weeks. They are chowing down on everything. And by everything I mean everything.

[Detour66]

Been taking the wife to take pics of the seals for weeks. They are chowing down on everything. And by everything I mean everything. Including winter flounder!!! I don't remember them being in the sandy hook area in these numbers? Since there doesn't to seem to be apex predators in the bay it could be a problem!

[baseballman]

A population of 100+ harbor seals - you can easily count 20+ on the right day, and there's many more you can't see - cannot be sustained without abundant forage. Bunker, herring, peanuts, holdover stripers, micro blackfish, winter flounder...you name it. If it is there, they're eating it!

[NJ219bands]

A population of 100+ harbor seals - you can easily count 20+ on the right day, and there's many more you can't see - cannot be sustained without abundant forage. Bunker, herring, peanuts, holdover stripers, micro blackfish, winter flounder...you name it. If it is there, they're eating it!

If they stay long enough, great white sharks will eat them like they do on Cape Cod.

[Broad Bill]

Nature finds a way to balance itself out. It's not seals we need to worry about with winter flounder or any other potential forage of theirs unless there's been an explosion in their population which typically nature will insure doesn't happen. I'd be more concerned with the continued commercial exploitation of the winter flounder flounder stock that's been annihilated by commercials fishing for three to four decades.

If, on the other hand, the seals are in SH and feeding on flounder, that would only be happening if the flounder stock was rebuilding which would be a good thing. Unfortunately if you look at the below stock assessment, historical landings and recruitment, they're all at historic lows as the commercial sector continues pounding the stock insuring no rebuilding process will ever occur in our lifetime.

Winter flounder was one of the most prolific fisheries anglers in the Mid-Atlantic States ever had, the fact it was destroyed in a few short years by relentless netting is something everyone should know and be concerned about. Natural mortality including predation will never kill a stock, it has built in checks and balances and those balances will insure it's survival and proliferation. Commercial netting, on the other hand, has no such balances or conscience and will completely destroy any stock if allowed to do so. Asinine regulations killed this stock when our greedy corrupt federal government allowed commercial operators to target winter flounder on a year round basis without sensible management measures. The fishery, which was an annual spring tradition to recreational anglers, never rebounded and never will unless it's closed down for a 3-5 year period to rebuild followed by proper management practices.

[Duffman]

Nature finds a way to balance itself out. It's not seals we need to worry about with winter flounder or any other potential forage of theirs unless there's been an explosion in their population which typically nature will insure doesn't happen. I'd be more concerned with the continued commercial exploitation of the winter flounder flounder stock that's been annihilated by commercials fishing for three to four decades.

If, on the other hand, the seals are in SH and feeding on flounder, that would only be happening if the flounder stock was rebuilding which would be a good thing. Unfortunately if you look at the below stock assessment, historical landings and recruitment, they're all at historic lows as the commercial sector continues pounding the stock insuring no rebuilding process will ever occur in our lifetime.

Winter flounder was one of the most prolific fisheries anglers in the Mid-Atlantic States ever had, the fact it was destroyed in a few short years by relentless :pnetting is something everyone should know and be concerned about. Natural mortality including predation will never kill a stock, it has built in checks and balances and those balances will insure it's survival and proliferation. Commercial netting, on the other hand, has no such balances or conscience and will completely destroy any stock if allowed to do so. Asinine regulations killed this stock when our greedy corrupt federal government allowed commercial operators to target winter flounder on a year round basis without sensible management measures. The fishery, which was an annual spring tradition to recreational anglers, never rebounded and never will unless it's closed down for a 3-5 year period to rebuild followed by proper management practices.

Holy F$ck you can suck the fun outta a discussion.

Ken as far them chowing down, they are gobbling up whatever is there.

No idea if there is any relation at all….. but…..there was always a mess of panfish in the area every year. Spot Croakers Kingfish Porgies Tog Cbass. It’s definitely tailed off the last 2 years. Whether that has anything at all to do with seals or the environment or whatever I have no idea

[Broad Bill]

If it's fun we want, I'll be happy removing my post. If it's hard facts about what's happening to our fisheries one by one, people should be informed and draw their own conclusions. The mismanagement of the fishery speaks for itself as does the decline in the stock. And no, in this case and most others, there's not an elephant in the room called climate change.

[Duffman]

If it's fun we want, I'll be happy removing my post. If it's hard facts about what's happening to our fisheries one by one, people should be informed and draw their own conclusions. The mismanagement of the fishery speaks for itself as does the decline in the stock. And no, in this case and most others, there's not an elephant in the room called climate change.

JC my man! It started about asking about seals and ya turned it doom and gloom. I get it and share ya passion for what’s going on with the regs. Holy $hit ya can give it a break every now and then and discuss something besides regs.

[Broad Bill]

I'm sorry, I thought it started with your concerns about what little population of winter flounder is left in the bay. My bad, I didn't mean to detract from your enthusiasm about the thriving seal population we have in Sandy Hook.

[AndrewT]

If they stay long enough, great white sharks will eat them like they do on Cape Cod.

I would not be surprised if we start seeing some seal predation in our area in November-Jan when the great whites from up north start moving south for the year.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I would not be surprised if we start seeing some seal predation in our area in November-Jan when the great whites from up north start moving south for the year.

This is exactly the issue Cape Cod is facing with the surge in Grey Seal populations... Was up there this past summer and shark warning signs are up all over the place... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/remarkable-rebound-the-great-white-sharks-of-cape-cod1/

[shresearchdude]

the seals aren't that new to the area. I've got pics of the group from more than ten years ago. They tended to haul out on the island off Spermaceti Cove, that's no longer an island.
They are only seasonal visitors and there's plenty of clams, crabs, and fish for them to eat, and although I'm not a marine mammal expert nor have I studied their feces, they probably are not limiting any resources.
They also haul out on the islands off Staten Island, in NY Harbor, but we don't get to stare at them there.

I may have had one take an eel from me while fishing once(fall or spring), but there's no pic so it didn't happen. :)

[Gumada]

As soon as the GW’s start moving north they will move on…