PORT ANGELES — A thin, lethargic harbor seal pup was resting quietly on Hollywood Beach on Saturday.
Wildlife officials who were monitoring the pup urged the public to give the animal its space.
Melissa Williams, Feiro Marine Life Center executive director, said the young pup had an uphill fight for survival.
“I am not optimistic for its chances,” Williams said Friday.
The Hollywood Beach pup was spotted Thursday and had moved closer to City Pier by Friday morning.
Yellow caution tape was placed around the seal to discourage people from coming too close.
“The best chance that we have for this pup is to just give it its space,” Williams said.
On Saturday, the pup was still on the beach. It had gone into the water once or twice in the last 12 hours, Williams said.
“It is possible that something will change before tomorrow,” Williams said. “We continue to monitor it.
“It could go back in the water and swim away or it could pass away; we don’t have a way of predicting when that might happen.”
About half of the seal pups born in the Salish Sea do not survive, Williams said.
Many deaths occur when the mother leaves to find food or during the weaning period when the pups are expected to begin to forage for themselves, Williams said.
Williams said it is unusual for harbor seals to rest on Hollywood Beach given the human presence.
Harbor seals are often seen on the beaches of Ediz Hook and on log booms, Williams said.
According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Fisheries, between 3,000 and 5,000 harbor seal pups are born in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound every year.
“Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, harbor seal populations have recovered to healthy numbers,” NOAA Fisheries officials said in a “Share the Shore with harbor seal pups” announcement.
Nursing harbor seal pups stay with their mother for four to six weeks before they are weaned to forage and survive on their own, according to NOAA.
Weaned pups will spend many hours on shore to rest and regulate their body temperature.
Williams said the Hollywood Beach pup was likely exhausted from moving higher on the beach for the tide.
“It can be very sad to watch an animal not make it,” Williams added.
“We just try to inform people about that 50 percent statistic.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Leah Leach contributed to this story.
