New England · 2000—2026
Grey and harbour seals
Seals around New England.
Follow public seal observations from New England. Browse published records, explore the places and stories behind them, or share an encounter with the Seal Watch team.
- Total reports
- 443
- Latest observation
Public reports · newest first
Public records archive
1 August 2003—31 May 2016
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Explore by place
All placesMarkers group reports by reviewed names in their public locations, not exact sighting positions. Circle size reflects report counts. Select a place to filter the archive.
350 of 443 reports mapped · 19 places
New England Six-state outline
Reported places Detail of outlined region
Mapped places North to south
- Eastern Maine12 reports
- Bangor Waterfront1 report
- Downeast Maine / Acadia51 reports
- Midcoast Maine41 reports
- Casco Bay / Portland16 reports
- Southern Maine13 reports
- Seacoast / Isles of Shoals6 reports
- Massachusetts North Shore30 reports
- Boston Harbor / Charles River13 reports
- Holyoke / Connecticut River1 report
- Outer Cape Cod40 reports
- Plymouth / South Shore12 reports
- Lower Cape Cod47 reports
- Mid Cape Cod6 reports
- South Cape / Buzzards Bay17 reports
- Rhode Island coast17 reports
- Martha's Vineyard4 reports
- Connecticut coast15 reports
- Nantucket8 reports
Places without a map point · 93 reports
Broad or unreviewed public locations remain available in the archive.
- Barnstable County10 reports
- Barnstable County waters1 report
- Barnstable County, Massachusetts3 reports
- Brothers Island4 reports
- Bunker Ledge1 report
- Cape Cod3 reports
- Cape Cod / Barnstable1 report
- Cape Cod National Seashore1 report
- Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts1 report
- Cape Cod, Massachusetts1 report
- Hancock County2 reports
- Hancock County, Maine1 report
- Jeffreys Ledge1 report
- Knox County1 report
- Lincoln County2 reports
- Long Island1 report
- Maine coast3 reports
- Maine coastal island, public place only1 report
- Massachusetts coast1 report
- Massachusetts coastal waters1 report
- New England44 reports
- New Hampshire coast, exact site unspecified1 report
- Newport County1 report
- Plymouth County1 report
- Sagadahoc1 report
- Southeastern Stellwagen Bank area1 report
- Washington County1 report
- Washington County, Maine1 report
- West Brother Island1 report
- York County1 report
Map: Natural Earth.
Reports over time
Select a year, then a month. Counts describe published reports; one animal may appear in several reports.
Grouped by each record’s archive date. Approximate dates keep their original labels in the records below.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/19596608
Observation: A large Grey Seal colony was photographed along the beach and surf in Barnstable County.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4028590
Observation: A Grey Seal was photographed curled on sand in Barnstable County.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/242700556
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One Grey Seal head is visible in water.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3673853
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One Grey Seal is at the water edge; broad county locality retained.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8310045
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal is visible; broad county locality retained because the map has a broad radius.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192221806
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photographs reviewed. Many Grey Seals are hauled out; count remains unset.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192220774
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One Grey Seal is swimming. An eBird checklist in the note is secondary only.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147739860
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. Many seals are hauled out on a gravel shore; the group cannot be counted reliably. Current page identification is Harbor Seal; no subspecies claim.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/341953328
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist observation reviewed. Source IDs: 341953328. Original page has visible photograph asset and research-grade grey seal identification.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63706270
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist observation reviewed. Source ID 63706270. Original page has three visible photograph assets and research-grade grey seal identification.