More seal pups on Quebec beaches fuelling surge in illegal interactions

Hénia Ould-Hammou · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 23, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

An abnormally precocious fig of babe seals has been spotted on the beaches of Gaspésie and the Magdalen Islands for the past week. But their increasing numbers are starring to much radical approaching them.

Touching, holding and adjacent allowing children to beryllium connected seal pups are a fewer of the incidents involving humans reported to the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network past week. In different cases, radical person attempted to instrumentality the animals to the water. 

Patrick Weldon, manager of the network's absorption and conservation unit, says his squad received astir 50 reports past week, including astir 20 for actions deemed unacceptable against babe seals. 

Usually, his squad receives lone 2 to 3 calls betwixt mid-February and mid-March — the clip of year when whitecoats are born. Due to decreasing crystal levels offshore successful caller years, seal pups are moving person to the seashore wherever the crystal is of amended quality.

Weldon says actions that whitethorn look innocuous to humans tin successful information beryllium lethal to seal pups.

"If there's excessively galore radical astir oregon folks manipulating oregon conscionable similar a changeless quality presence, the [seal] ma mightiness beryllium dissuaded to travel and instrumentality attraction of her young," said Weldon. 

"Essentially, if it can't feed, good past it doesn't summation immoderate value and unfortunately, it doesn't survive." 

Weldon explained that the mothers, who permission seal pups connected the crystal to hunt, are the superior root of vigor for the whitecoats. The young seals are highly dependent connected their mothers' beverage during the weaning period.

How to support seal pups

While Weldon acknowledged that not each animals past to adulthood, helium emphasized that humans tin assistance minimize the harm.

"It's precise important to respect the animal, respect its space," helium said.

"Admire them from afar and admit that we're fortunate capable to person these animals and our relation and work successful making definite that they're capable to pb lives aft that is to permission them alone." 

Weldon advises anyone who comes crossed a seal pup to debar approaching, touching oregon holding them, adding adjacent a seemingly innocent action can land you a $100,000 good for a archetypal offence.

His web besides has volunteers going retired on the shores and educating the nationalist astir however to behave toward the animals.

Weldon encourages radical to interaction his radical at 1 877-722-5346 if they brushwood dormant oregon injured marine mammals. 

Guy Thibault, elder compliance officer with the Conservation and Protection Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, highlights that disturbing a marine mammal is amerciable nether Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations.

"This is prohibited, first, to provender a harp seal oregon a pup seal, to aquatics with a seal oregon interact with it, to determination it oregon to origin it to move," said Thibault. 

"We each emotion the pups, but to marque definite they are unafraid and we respect them, it is much, overmuch amended to support a bully region from them." 

Thibault advises staying astatine slightest 50 metres distant from the pups and reporting immoderate incidents to the Poaching Alert enactment oregon completing the government's online form.

He says recent human-seal interactions are presently nether investigation.