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Kopec, Diane. 1999. Harbor Seals in the Bay. Tideline Vol 19 No. 1 1-3. Harbor Seals in the Bay by Diane Kopec
Before European development, before placer mining loaded the bay with mercury-laden silt, before tidal marshes were diked for cattle and salt, and before the waste from industrialization made water quality a concern, harbor seals lived in the bay. In the south bay, harbor seal bones have been found in Native American shell mounds that are dated at approximately 3,000 years old. Through all the changes we have made to the bay, successive generations of seals have continued to inhabit it, proof of successful efforts to sustain a healthy ecosystem, and evidence of the need to continue those efforts.
The harbor seals which live year-round in San Francisco Bay, Phoca vitulina, |
An
early morning fog on the Bay obscures the horizon, focusing our senses on the
narrow slough and bordering marsh slipping by the boat. The fog muffles the
noise from the commute traffic on 101 to the west, and from the sewage treatment
plant to the north. Only nearby sounds are heard, the slap of water, the brush
of pickleweed on the hull as we turn toward shore, and, when
the boat is still, the random call of a harbor seal pup. "MAAAA....MAAAA!"
The sound is ancient and wild, rooted in the history of San Francisco Bay. Last updated:
May 27, 2008
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