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
12 September 2007—15 July 2023
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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 Troi Perkins — iNaturalist (thetroi)
Observation: Photographic observation identified on iNaturalist as grey seal (Halichoerus grypus atlantica).
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Marine Mammals of Maine
Observation: A weaned seal was reported to the MMoME hotline in Harpswell and assessed as independent. The record describes the wild finding and response, not later care as a separate sighting.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Marine Mammals of Maine
Observation: A small harbor seal pup with lanugo fur and an umbilicus was found at Underwood Cove. The record describes the wild finding and response; later rehabilitation is not a separate sighting.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201415964
Observation: A Harbor Seal haulout group was photographed in Casco Bay near Harpswell.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7125752
Observation: One Harbor Seal head was photographed in the water in Harpswell Sound.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5651699
Observation: One Harp Seal was photographed resting on a grassy coastal bank near Brunswick.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2425880
Observation: Several seals were photographed hauled out near Wolfe’s Neck Woods.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/756522
Observation: A seal was photographed near Falmouth; the species is uncertain.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/235461374
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One distant seal head is in water; source Harbor attribution is uncertain and the locality is broad/obscured. Kept separate from the same-day Chatham source because observer and state differ.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/251831118
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One seal is swimming; source attribution is Harbor Seal.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35557917
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal head is visible in water.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/346433
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. Several Harbor Seals, at least five, are visible on a rocky island; structured count remains unset. Observer colony wording is not treated as a population claim.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/197743794
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Harbor Seal is on a coastal rock. The observer says the geotag is not exact, so the broad coastal-waters location is used.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Melanie Creamer — Portland Press Herald / Maine Department of Marine Resources
Observation: An adult harp seal was seen sunning in the Back Cove marsh and later swam away. Maine Department of Marine Resources stranding coordinator Lynda Doughty attributed the species identification.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35516202
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live harbor seal is visible.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35473570
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist observation reviewed. Source IDs: 35473570. Original page has visible photograph asset and research-grade harbor seal identification.