What's up with Harbor Seals?

[Bogie]

I was diving Pt. Lobos a few days ago and this fat harbor seal was nipping at my fins. My dive buddy said the seal swept down and went right for them. He took a picture but it did not come out very good. A month ago I saw a harbor seal nipping at his fins at Lovers Pt..

I love these silly seals. I just wonder what they are doing.

Are they criticizing my diving ability?

Why do they go for the fins?

Are they just having fun?

Is it territorial?

I hope it's not mating foreplay.

Any ideas?

 

[Tigerman]

I was diving Pt. Lobos a few days ago and this fat harbor seal was nipping at my fins. My dive buddy said the seal swept down and went right for them. He took a picture but it did not come out very good. A month ago I saw a harbor seal nipping at his fins at Lovers Pt..

I love these silly seals. I just wonder what they are doing.

Are they criticizing my diving ability?

Why do they go for the fins?

Are they just having fun?

Is it territorial?

I hope it's not mating foreplay.

...

All of the above, especially the last one

 

[cmburch]

I have had more problems with harbor seals than seal lions.

I wonder sometimes if people feed them. If this is responsible for their behavior?

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/harbor-seal/behavior.htm

 

[pacificgal]

James, first it's a sea otter, now it's harbor seals? You're too sexy for your drysuit, I think...

 

[ScubaSteve]

Trying to correct your trim?

In all seriousness I would love to experience this someday. In the videos they seem so playful (which I suppose would eventually get tiresome for some people). Hopefully someday they will try to correct my trim.....I will let them get all the friskies out on you first

 

[Tigerman]

I have had more problems with harbor seals than seal lions.

I wonder sometimes if people feed them. If this is responsible for their behavior?

HARBOR SEALS - Behavior

:shocked2: Maybe they see the flippers waving as a sign of agression

 

[cmburch]

:shocked2: Maybe they see the flippers waving as a sign of aggression

My problem is when they follow, get too close, or bump into me. I have never been nipped, but my wife has had them on her fins. When she turned towards it, it moved away. As soon as she turned back, it was on her fins again. It actually followed her green fins around. I do not recognize that as aggression, but rather fin fetish. On one night dive in front of the Bed and Breakfasts a few blocks from the aquarium, I saw a round object coming straight at me out of the dark. Before I could scream (thinking shark), it turned slightly and zoomed by me less than 1 foot away and by it's profile I recognized it was a harbor seal. It followed/led my buddy and I, the whole dive right in front where our lights were aimed like it was using the light for hunting. I think it may think of divers as food source if someone is feeding them.

Yes, it is fun with sea lion pups making large circles with your arms to get them to rotate and do flips. Or sea otters climbing on your kayak to rest. But I have had enough when they scare other sealife away or pester excessively.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

It's seasonal (August/Sept.) and usually the teenagers. I had one go after
me for about 30 minutes a few weeks ago. We're going back to that site
this weekend fer sure.

 

[Tigerman]

...
Yes, it is fun with sea lion pups making large circles with your arms to get them to rotate and do flips. Or sea otters climbing on your kayak to rest. But I have had enough when they scare other sealife away or pester excessively.

Haha, couple of friends of me was out fishing and couldnt understand why no fish where biting as it used to be a good spot.. Untill they got half a fish on shore and a minute or so later saw a harbor seal stick its head above the surface

 

[Divenomad]

No one is certain why they display this behavior. There is one idea that keeps coming around the scientific community is that it's a survival behavior to annoy and drive off sharks. a shark arrives among a community and one harbor seal will bite it's caudal fin repeatedly and then use it's superior mobility to evade the response of the shark. Another seal will then repeat from another direction.

This idea comes from several observations of great whites with badly bitten caudal fins, however; no one to my knowledge has ever observed or recorded the actual behavior. Another mitigating fact against this theory is that analysis of shark feeding behaviors against humans show that even hitting the animal very hard around the head seems to to do very little, even in sensitive areas. Sharks are extremely robust organisms and can sustain extensive damage. Female Hammerheads in particular show large bite injuries after mating without apparant long term harm.

We mostly get bitten, then we are are released, because quite frankly, we don't appear to taste very good to Carcharodon carcharias.

If the theory is correct, one might speculate that the seal is practicingon a relatively harmless subject, much the way a child uses play to practice for adult life.
Or they just be messing with us, just because they can.Nomad