1. haulout area where counts of pups have exceeded ten; significant 

 whelping area; 



2. haulout area where gray seals are frequently sighted; 



3. haulout area where counts have exceeded 65 harbor seals, apparently 

 an area affording protection and favorable foraging; 



4. a "traditional" seal ledge important for its geographic location, 

 unspoiled wilderness value, or near publically or privately held 

 islands (National park, Federal, State, or private conservation 

 islands) ; 



5. haulout area coinciding with or near important nesting islands for 

 waterbirds . 



These important seal areas are identified on atlas map 4 and are listed in 

 appendix table 2. Over 78% of these important seal areas are located in or 

 east of Penobscot Bay. 



The present status of gray seals in Maine coastal waters is not as well 

 known. Most of the gray seals observed along the coast of Maine are transient 

 individuals from Canada (Gilbert et al. 1978). Very little information is 

 available to state whether the population was higher in historic times but 

 they were at one time sufficiently abundant along the New England coast to 

 support hunting by Indians for some time. The Western Atlantic stock, 

 centered in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the coast of Nova Scotia, 

 Canada, has been increasing since at least the mid-1960s (Gilbert et al. 

 1978). Smith (1966) estimated this stock at 5000, while Mansfield and Beck 

 (1977) estimated the present population to be 30,000. Estimates of pup 

 production on Sable Island (Canada) have increased from about 350 in 1962 to 

 over 2000 in 1976 (Mansfield and Beck 1977). Richardson (1976) reported only 

 about 80 gray seals from various sightings in coastal Maine from 1965 to 1975. 

 A total of 148 gray seals in 27 haulout areas have been sighted along the 

 coast over several years (table 13-3 and 13-4; appendix table 3). The 

 majority of these seals (91%) were sighted among the islands and ledges of 

 regions 4 and 5. The only known breeding colony in U.S. waters is at Muskeget 

 Island, near Nantucket, Massachusetts. Probably fewer than 30 seals exist 

 there (J. Prescott, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA; November, 1979). Gray 

 seals inhabiting the Gulf of Maine and Nantucket are most likely recruited 

 from Sable Island, Basque Island, Camp Island, or Gulf of St. Lawrence stocks 

 (all in Canada). Dispersal and migration for this species, especially 

 immatures, can be widespread and extensive, as evidenced by tagging 

 investigations (Mansfield and Beck 1977). Gray seals marked as pups on Sable 

 Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, have been recovered in the Muskeget area, Mt. 

 Desert Rock in Maine, and Barneget Light, New Jersey. Late winter sightings 

 of immature gray seals in the vicinity of Penobscot and Blue Hill Bays suggest 

 that some animals may be year-round residents. Potential breeding and pupping 

 sites have yet to be identified. 



13-9 



10-80 



