Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island, Inc.

150 Idle Hour Blvd., Oakdale  NY 11769-1999, Attn: Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Dowling College

 

 

 

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    Grey and Harbor seals at Montauk Point State Park, 3/24/06

Harbor seal at Cupsogue BeachHabor seal at Montauk Point

2008/2009 CRESLI Seal Walks

  Cupsogue Beach County Park

 and 

Montauk Point State Park

 

General Information about Seal Walks: CRESLI seal walks will take place between November and May. Please note that weather will play a significant role in determining the seal walk schedule. Please call CRESLI at (631) 244-3352 for schedule changes and cancellations.

Please be prepared for the weather, i.e., wear warm clothing (outerwear should be in muted colors) in layers. Hats, gloves, warm waterproof shoes, and water are also recommended, as are cameras and binoculars.   For those without waterproof shoes, an additional dry pair of shoes and socks (for the ride home) would be beneficial.


You must register for any CRESLI seal walks. Registration will enable us to contact you regarding changes and/or cancellations.

To register for a seal walk, click here.

Suggested contributions of $5.00 per adult  and $3 per child (12 and under) will help support CRESLI's ongoing seal research programs.  


Pinniped Passes


This season CRESLI is introducing seal season passes that will allow the holder unlimited seal walks! We are offering three levels: Grey, Harp and Harbor Seal Pinniped Passes.
  • Grey Seal Pinniped Pass ($65) is for a family up to 6 people
  • Harp Seal Pinniped Pass ($50) is for up to 4 people
  • Harbor Seal Pinniped Pass ($30) is for up to two people.
Each pass lasts the whole seal season and can be used an unlimited number of times.
This is an inexpensive and easy way to see Long Island’s seals all season.
All you need to do is go to our website and register. We will send you a laminated card that you will need to bring to each seal walk for which you have made a reservation. Considering that we have 27 scheduled seal walks and ask each person for $5. This is a REAL bargain!

Please note that seal walks for groups of 10-50 (school groups, scouts, etc.) have to be scheduled separately and can be scheduled on dates other than those listed.  Please send an e-mail with your requests, by clicking on this link to Dr. A. Kopelman


2009 CRESLI Seal Walk Schedule

Previous sightings reports

12/05/2008 Montauk Point State Park 2 Grey seals
12/27/2008 Cupsogue Beach 4 harbor seals
01/02/2009 Montauk Point State Park 60 seals (56 harbor seals and 4 grey seals)
01/10/2009 Cupsogue Beach 12 harbor seals and 2 grey seals
01/24/09 Cupsogue Beach 12 Harbor seals
01/25/09 Cupsogue Beach (special group trip)  24 Harbor seals
02/06/09 Cupsogue Beach 30 Harbor seals
02/08/09 Cupsogue Beach  63 Harbor seals,  1 hooded seal, and 1 ringed seal
02/21/09 Cupsogue Beach  7 Harbor seals
02/27/09 Cupsogue Beach  (special trip)  25 Harbor seals
03/06/09 Montauk Point State Park 6 harbor seals
03/08/09 Cupsogue Beach   46 Harbor seals and 2 Grey seals
03/21/09 Cupsogue Beach   60 Harbor seals
03/28/09 Cupsogue Beach   20 Harbor seals 
04/04/09 Cupsogue Beach  (walk cancelled due to extreme winds)

 50 Harbor seals*

04/05/09 Cupsogue Beach   55 Harbor  and 3 Grey seals**  
04/26/09 Cupsogue Beach  no seals$

* on 4/04/09, extreme winds (30+ knots, gusting to 45 knots) forced the trip to be cancelled on-site.  Seal observations  and photographs were by CRESLI's Dr. A. H. Kopelman later that morning.

** on 4/05/09, seals were flushed from the haulout site shortly after our arrival and were kept off the haulout site by the presence of a vessel constantly travelling back and forth through the groups of seals in the water.  The vessel operator then wrongly decided to bring the vessel onto the sandbar just adjacent to the haulout site.  His actions could be in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act  and the vessels number will be submitted to the  appropriate authorities.

$ 4/26/09 - extreme warm weather and significant activity by boaters on and around the haulout site kept seals away.  10 Seals had been sighted the day before; 2 were seals sighted on 4/27.


To register for a seal walk, click here.

REMAINING CUPSOGUE DATES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED

For all intents and purposes, the seals have left Cupsogue for the season

(SEE MONTAUK DATES BELOW)

DATE TIME Place
Saturday 05/02/09    8:00 AM CANCELLED
Sunday 05/10/09 2:00 PM CANCELLED

 

REMAINING MONTAUK DATES

(SEE CUPSOGUE DATES ABOVE)

Friday 05/01/09 9:00 AM Cancelled due to impending storm
Friday 05/15/09 8:30 AM Montauk Point State Park

 


Click here for maps and directions to the seal walks.


CRESLI seal walks at Cupsogue Beach County Park (at the western end of Dune Road in Westhampton Beach) will depart from area near the fence at the western end of the parking lot.  The walks  are approximately 1.2 miles round trip and take about 1.5-2 hours. Meeting times are 15 minutes prior to departure. These walks are suitable for children.

 

Click here for a map and directions to the seal walk at Cupsogue Beach .

 


2008/9 CRESLI Seal Walks at Montauk Point:

  • CRESLI seal walks at Montauk Point State park will depart from area near the bathrooms in the main parking lot at Montauk Point State Park.  The walks  are approximately 3 miles round trip and take about 3 hours. Meeting times are 15 minutes prior to departure. These beach walks are suitable for children. Click here for a map and directions to the seal walk at Montauk.

For further information about Long Island's seals, click here.


Click here for images from previous seal walks

Click here to see previous year's sightings reports

Click here for Seal Cruise information


PLEASE! PLEASE!  All of us involved in monitoring the seals  on Long Island would prefer that you view the seals in a supervised naturalist led walk.  If too many people continue to disturb the haul out zone, the seals may abandon it in the future.  REMEMBER, DO NOT COME WITHIN  70 YARDS OF THE HAUL OUT ZONE  WHEN SEALS ARE HAULED OUT and DO NOT GO DOWN TO THE SHORE.   

 

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