Archival page. Protection of habitats grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus) and porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena) in area of Slowinski National Park

Seal observation

The turn of July and August was full of observations of seals on the beaches of the Słowiński National Park. The first observation concerned the seal tracks that were observed during the beach patrol on the 204.5 km of the sea coast, close to the descent to the beach from the lighthouse. A seal left a trail of coming ashore, approaching the front dune and returning to the sea on the narrow stretch of beach with a width of about 15 meters. The animal probably rested on the beach on the evening or at night preceding observations.

On 31^st of July around 13.00 tourists observed a harbor seal pup on the beach in Rowy (215,2 kilometers of the coast). A youngling was not in its best condition,emaciated and weakened, so it was decided to bring the "little one" on rehabilitation to the Marine Station of the Institute of Oceanography in Hel. Currently, about 2-3 week pet weighs 9.5 kg, is 90 cm long and returns to full strength under the supervision of specialists. Harbor seal pups remain under the care of their mother to 2 months of age. This is much longer than in case of gray seals, where the puppies leave their mother after the 3rd week of life. In this case the youngling has probably been abandoned by his mother or his mother died. The pup was named Rowcia.

The next day, late in the afternoon, at the beach of the Park, two other seals were observed. The first one was resting near the so-called ?Oak Beach" in the vicinity of 209.5 km of the sea coast. It was a young gray seal which was resting on the beach and entering water, until it swam away around 20.00. The second seal on that day was seen by tourists in the area while descending to the beach near the Łącka Sand Dune.

We want to thank the tourists for reporting observations of these still quite rare mammals on our coast. Please report all observations to the appropriate organization or institution, such as IO UG Marine Station in Hel, the WWF Blue Patrol or Słowiński National Park.We look forward to your photographs. Remember, that very often seal appears only for a moment, and our arrival to the reported place of observation often consumes some time.