The new float arrived in June 2016, and the old wooden dock was removed the following month. By late December, more seals were using the new float than had ever been seen at the old dock. On January 5, 2017, the float was packed to capacity with 70 seals. The new float is 300 feet from the shoreline. Perhaps the greater sense of security has made this structure a more attractive resting area. It is the only known structure in the world built specifically for harbor seals.

Regular updates are posted on the Alameda Point Harbor Seal Monitors Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/alamedaseals1/

This iNaturalist project is being launched in advance of the new harbor seal haul-out being delivered to the Alameda Point harbor. Currently, harbor seals haul out on a deteriorated wooden dock and some attached floating beams. The Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), which will be building a ferry maintenance facility on the site where the current haul-out is located, has applied for a permit from the Bay Conservation and Development Commission for a new haul-out. WETA has a target time-frame of December 2015 for delivering the new haul-out to the harbor.

On the advice of Dr. James Harvey, Director of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, the new 450-square-foot haul-out will first be moored to a piling near the existing dock in order to hopefully acclimate the harbor seals to the new haul-out. Over the course of weeks, the haul-out will be moved to its permanent location 250 feet away. The old dock is slated for demolition in late summer of 2016.

Observations during the transition period, and for years to follow, will be important in gauging the success of this first attempt in San Francisco Bay to create a special haul-out structure for harbor seals. The location lends itself well to observation due to the easily accessible Bay Trail that runs along the shoreline. The public is encouraged to participate.

Here is an excerpt from a report prepared by Dr. Harvey and submitted to the Alameda city council on June 28, 2015:

“Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) occur throughout the northern hemisphere, and there are five different subspecies. One of the subspecies, the Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardii), occurs from Baja California north through the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. There are about 30,000 harbor seals in California (NMFS 2011), and about 600 harbor seals using San Francisco Bay (Lowry et al. 2008).”