Harbor seals in Virginia: Evidence for a regular, winter haul-out and seasonal site fidelity

About

Harbor seal distribution along the United States (U.S.) Atlantic coast appears to be expanding. During the fall of 2014, we began an investigation of harbor seal presence in the lower Chesapeake Bay, VA (Figure 1). The study is ongoing in 2017-2018 with the following objectives: assess seal occurrence, movement and haul-out patterns in areas adjacent to Navy Training and testing areas, and using photo-identification methods, identify and compare individual seals to assess site fidelity and movement among haul-out locations in the study areas.