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Lost Seal? No, Just Hungry. · Street Smart Naturalist

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Greetings.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is David B.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Williams and the podcast of my newsletter,
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: The Street Smart Naturalist,
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  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind.
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  Every week I share my observations and adventures with the
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  human and natural world
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  SPEAKER_00: around Seattle.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound, and the Pacific Northwest.
• 0:17
  Today's episode returns to the Centennial Trail for another
• 0:20
  wildlife sighting.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about my work, please go to my website, geologyrider.com.
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  You will also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my
• 0:29
  previous four and a half
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  SPEAKER_00: years of newsletters,
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  SPEAKER_00: as well as images tied to this week's episode.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
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  SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Podcast 33 of the Street Smart Naturalist.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Lost seal?
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  SPEAKER_00: No, just hungry.
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  SPEAKER_00: July 17, 2025.
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  SPEAKER_00: Apparently, not all pinnipeds read guidebooks.
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  SPEAKER_00: At least, that's my conclusion after seeing a harbor seal on Saturday.
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  SPEAKER_00: The spotted gray seal was almost 18 miles away from the nearest harbor,
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  SPEAKER_00: up the Stille Guamish River.
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  SPEAKER_00: My pal Scott and I were on our weekly ride on the Centennial Trail.
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  As we usually do,
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  we stopped on the old railroad bridge near the Stille,
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  near Arlington.
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  SPEAKER_00: below the water was clear and as low as we have seen it,
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  SPEAKER_00: 560 CFS,
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  SPEAKER_00: compared to the maximum we have seen of more than 60,000 CFS.
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  SPEAKER_00: The harbor seal was at the surface in the middle of the river.
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  I could see her spots as she bobbed and swam along for a few
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  seconds before diving
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  SPEAKER_00: and swimming toward the shore in an old bridge support.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I reached out to Pete Verhey,
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  SPEAKER_00: a fish biologist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife,
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  SPEAKER_00: he told me that harvest seals that head up rivers are,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  SPEAKER_00: a good sign that Chinook salmon are pressing into the rivers,
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  SPEAKER_00: Chinooks or pinks,
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  SPEAKER_00: unquote.
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  SPEAKER_00: He also noted that the escuary, a.k.a.
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  SPEAKER_00: the harbor of the Stille,
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  SPEAKER_00: is home for a harbor seal colony nearly year-round and consists of,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  SPEAKER_00: mostly females who likely rear their pups there in relative safety,
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  SPEAKER_00: unquote.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Seeing the seal was yet another reason I enjoy riding the trail weekly.
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  SPEAKER_00: I've noted in a previous newsletter that the trail is nothing special,
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  SPEAKER_00: along roads,
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  SPEAKER_00: through fields,
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  SPEAKER_00: and mostly flat.
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  SPEAKER_00: Instead,
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  it is the cumulative sightings of wildlife and weather over
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  more than seven years
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  SPEAKER_00: of riding that have given me a deep appreciation for the area,
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  SPEAKER_00: its diversity,
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  SPEAKER_00: and its dynamic.
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  Harbor seals are arguably one of the most beloved and endearing
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  animals in Puget Sound.
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  SPEAKER_00: Go to the Hiram M.
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  SPEAKER_00: Chittenden locks,
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  SPEAKER_00: ride a ferry,
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  SPEAKER_00: or walk along the waterfront,
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  SPEAKER_00: and you'll probably hear someone cooing and oohing over a harbor seal.
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  SPEAKER_00: With their large eyes,
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  SPEAKER_00: caninesque appearance,
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  SPEAKER_00: gregariousness,
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  SPEAKER_00: and what seems to be a curiosity in people,
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  SPEAKER_00: harbor seals appeal to us on many levels.
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  SPEAKER_00: At least they do now.
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  SPEAKER_00: Such was not always the case for harbor seals and sea lions.
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  SPEAKER_00: Historically,
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  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound's commercial fishers scapegoated the big Piscopores,
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  SPEAKER_00: claiming that they ate too many salmon.
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  This led to the Washington State Legislature passing
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  legislation offering a bounty
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  SPEAKER_00: in 1903,
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  SPEAKER_00: $1 for a seal and $2.50 for a sea lion.
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  In 1947,
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  legislatures raised the bounties to between $3 and $10 for both
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  seals and sea lions.
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  SPEAKER_00: Three years before the second bounty increase,
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  SPEAKER_00: biologists Victor Sheffer and John Slip wrote that between 1922 and 1926,
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  SPEAKER_00: 3,200 harbor seals had been bounding,
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  SPEAKER_00: with another 40% added for seals killed but not recovered.
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  SPEAKER_00: Describing the,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  SPEAKER_00: constant persecution,
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  SPEAKER_00: unquote,
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  SPEAKER_00: of seals by sportsmen and others,
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  SPEAKER_00: they wrote,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  blame for the decline in a local fishery is often directed at
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  the harbor seal.
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  SPEAKER_00: whereas it rightfully belongs to selfish or thoughtless practices of man,
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  SPEAKER_00: such as overfishing,
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  SPEAKER_00: the damming of streams,
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  SPEAKER_00: pollution by industrial waste,
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  SPEAKER_00: and so on,
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  SPEAKER_00: unquote.
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  Sixteen years previously,
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  in 1928,
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  Victor's dad,
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  Theophilus,
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  expressed the same sentiments.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sadly, neither of their wise words took.
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  Pinnipeds continued to be hunted toward exportation until 1972
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  and the signing of
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  SPEAKER_00: the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
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  SPEAKER_00: which prohibited the taking of all marine mammals in U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: waters.
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  Since then,
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  Washington's seal population has ballooned from around 5,000 to
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  almost 44,000.
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  SPEAKER_00: On Hood Canal, there are estimated 2,832 individuals.
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  SPEAKER_00: South Sound, 2,529.
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  SPEAKER_00: Northern Inland, 15,796.
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  SPEAKER_00: And out on the coast, 22,451.
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  SPEAKER_00: We humans may like to see an increase in harbor seals,
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  SPEAKER_00: but our joy pales to the benefit provided to Biggs killer whales.
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  SPEAKER_00: These are the mammal-hunting group of orcas that inhabit the Salish Sea,
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  and their population increase corresponds well with the rise of
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  the harbor seals.
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  Speaking of orcas,
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  one infamous individual swam into Lake Union in February 1938.
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  SPEAKER_00: Nicknamed Nosy Joe,
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  SPEAKER_00: the orca,
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  SPEAKER_00: historically known as a blackfish,
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  SPEAKER_00: initially swam into one of the larger locks at Ballard,
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  SPEAKER_00: moved in and out of it for about an hour,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then entered freshwater,
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  SPEAKER_00: making it all the way to Lake Union.
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  SPEAKER_00: In pursuit was Edward Searer, a Seattleite who hoped to harpoon the orca.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fortunately,
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  Nosy Joe returned to the locks and headed back out into the
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  relative safety of
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  Puget Sound before the quee-quee of Seattle could kill the
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  unsuspecting orca.
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  Scott and I continued to look for the harbor seal after she
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  swam toward shore,
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  SPEAKER_00: but she didn't reappear.
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  SPEAKER_00: We also looked again on a return part of the ride.
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  SPEAKER_00: Again, no luck.
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  SPEAKER_00: But that's okay.
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  SPEAKER_00: Simply knowing that Harbor Seals ventures so far inland,
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  SPEAKER_00: knowledge gained only after seven years of riding,
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  SPEAKER_00: has now opened us to the possibility of seeing again.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's half the fun of paying attention.
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  SPEAKER_00: I generally look for what or who I hope to be there,
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  SPEAKER_00: as well as remaining open to unexpected discoveries.
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  SPEAKER_00: Either way, I have fun.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Williams,
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  SPEAKER_00: author and voice of The Street Smart Naturalist,
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  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind,
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  a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human and
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  natural world around
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  SPEAKER_00: Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like more details about my books,
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: walks and talks,
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: and a link to sign up for my newsletter and podcast,
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: check out my website,
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: geologywriter.com.
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  And don't forget to slow down,
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  pay attention,
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  and enjoy the world around you.