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
22 August 2008—13 October 2017
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40 of 443 reports
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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/180062988; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/180062990; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/180062989
Observation: A Grey Seal group was photographed near Truro.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/180062974; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/180062975
Observation: Seals were photographed in Provincetown during one outing.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/180062971
Observation: One Grey Seal was photographed near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72014344
Observation: One Grey Seal head was photographed near Race Point.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8201243
Observation: One Grey Seal was photographed near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8078873
Observation: One Grey Seal was photographed near Race Point.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/32003576
Observation: One seal was photographed near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8709263
Observation: One Grey Seal was photographed swimming near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8709284
Observation: One Grey Seal was photographed swimming near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192213954
Observation: One Grey Seal was photographed near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/56348030
Observation: One Grey Seal was photographed swimming near Wellfleet.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7173529
Observation: Three Grey Seal heads were photographed in the surf near North Truro.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6115784
Observation: One seal head was photographed in the sea near Race Point Beach.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/208128812
Observation: Grey Seal remains were photographed on a beach near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4517710
Observation: One Grey Seal was photographed with its head above water near Race Point.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30012123
Observation: A Grey Seal head was photographed swimming near Race Point Beach.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5615820
Observation: A large Grey Seal colony was photographed on rocks near Truro.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/266112378
Observation: A Harbor Seal was photographed swimming near the Province Lands Bike Trail.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112198398
Observation: A Grey Seal was photographed on the beach near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192210546; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143426706
Observation: A Grey Seal was photographed on the beach near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/64130969
Observation: A dead seal was photographed at Race Point.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1729807
Observation: A Grey Seal was photographed swimming near Race Point.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20036754
Observation: Several seals were photographed hauled out near Provincetown.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14970408
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal head is swimming.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/60294907
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal is swimming.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4925070
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. At least three Grey Seal heads are visible in water; count remains unset.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192218635
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal is swimming. An eBird checklist link is secondary context.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/93355250
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal is swimming; the displayed clock is omitted because it is anomalous.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70131190
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal is swimming.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28454850
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. Several live seals are swimming; current Grey Seal identification is retained as probable and count is unset.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/150541141
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal is swimming; public map is obscured and no subspecies claim is made.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/179987789
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. Many seals are hauled out on sand by the water; this aggregate group cannot be counted reliably. Current identification is Harbor Seal while earlier Grey Seal IDs were withdrawn, so species remains uncertain.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192215232
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live Grey Seal is on a sandy shore and the source has an Alive annotation. An eBird checklist link in the notes is not an independent source. The source photograph is all rights reserved and no media is uploaded.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/19120624
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. A dense haulout is visible in a distant soft photograph; exact count cannot be determined. Grey seal is retained as the attributed source identification, with the photo limitation noted.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/31663585
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live grey seal holds a fish in its mouth; no observation clock time is preserved because the page clock conflicts with the Massachusetts daylight scene.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/270512043
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One grey seal is lying on sand with visible red abrasions around the head and neck and closed eyes. The source does not establish whether the animal was alive or dead, and no cause is inferred.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/338348739
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photographs reviewed. Two photographs show the same single live seal head in water; they are not two animals.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/169839623
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photographs reviewed. Seals are swimming in surf; multiple dark heads or bodies are visible, so count remains unset. Source identifications include family-level and grey seal.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/379568752
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist page and photograph reviewed. One live seal is visible in coastal water viewed from behind.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23097579
Observation: Direct original iNaturalist observation reviewed. Source IDs: 23097579. Original page has two visible photograph assets and research-grade grey seal identification.