Riverhead Foundation Annual Seal Count

At the end of the barrier beach protecting Flax Pond known as Crane Neck Point, a colony of seals assembles each winter for several months, arriving sometimes as early as Thanksgiving time and lasting until the waters grow warmer, usually March, April, or, occasionally, later. Although seals rarely find their way into the saltmarsh itself, they are a living part of the surrounding marine ecosystem and an added opportunity for us to observe and study.

Each Winter or early Spring, usually in March, The Riverhead Foundation chooses a week when it collects data on all the known sites of seal colonies on Long Island. The Friends of Flax Pond partners with the Riverhead Foundation in this count and invites volunteers to participate. Seals are best viewed when the water is calm at low tide, when the haul up on emerged rocks. While additional seals can be viewed swimming, due to their ability to quickly move about in the water and get counted more than once, only the seals hauled up are counted.

For more information on the Riverhead Foundation's important contributions to preservation of our marine mammals, visit their website at www.riverheadfoundation.org