SEAL WATCHING : Safely Harbored : A volunteer group protects the mammals from human disturbance during pupping season.

While their little ones frolicked and splashed in tide pools, mothers-- relaxed but alert--stretched their bloated bodies on the sun-warmed rocks.

This domestic scene of harbor seal mothers and their pups, seen from 100 yards above on the Carpinteria Bluffs, has been replayed each spring for possibly thousands of years.

“Like the salmon, they want to give birth within 10 feet of where they were born,” said Al Clark, an organizer of Carpinteria Seal Watch. For the second year, the volunteer group is protecting the seals from human disturbance during pupping season.

Between December and June, the beach is closed but people can observe the seals from the side or from above, keeping behind the temporary fencing. Each week, about 50 seal watchers rotate shifts during daylight hours, chatting with visitors and informing them about the seals and the seal watch.

Harbor seals are neither an endangered nor a threatened species. “It is this colony that is threatened because of the proximity of human encroachment,” Clark said.

“Our group is just a bunch of local people who want to protect the colony so our kids can watch nature’s cycle--to see (seals) mate and birth and die. The whole bit. It’s valuable in our urban society to have this resource. We want to enjoy it and protect it, too.”

Between five and 125 seals may lounge on the isolated strip of beach at any time, along with up to 20 pups. This year, the first pup was born Feb. 1, but it died. March is the main month for births, but some are expected this month, although no formal count is kept.

One morning, watcher Alberta Brown saw two pups born within 10 minutes. A female hauled herself out of the ocean and lay down in a shallow pool. Soon her back flippers started shaking and the pup popped out encased in a sac, Brown said.

The pup broke out of the sac and started swimming immediately. “It swam over to a rock and tried to nurse,” Brown said, laughing.

Brown drives over from Santa Barbara almost daily, although her shift is only a couple of hours a week. She said she finds observing the seals “more than therapeutic; it’s almost spiritual.”

Pups are born with a dark, prenatal fur, which is shed within the first week. “It’s important for them to feed on their mom’s milk to build up a layer of blubber. After they slough off the fur, it’s the blubber that insulates them against the cold water,” Clark said.

The rich milk nourishes the pups so well that within weeks, they are the size of small adult seals. Adult seals can weigh 150 to 300 pounds.

The skittish seals are easily scared off the rocks into the water, which can result in mothers and young being permanently separated in a high surf. Then the pup “can’t get milk, it gets cold, it gets hungry, it dies,” Clark said.

Within a day or two of birthing, the adults mate again. “You can see the male and female swim apart and together and kiss and Ferris-wheel roll. It’s a gentle, loving thing,” Brown said.

The Carpinteria site is one of four rookeries in Southern California, and evidence of its use dates back to prehistory. “There are seal bones in the Indian middens,” Clark said, noting that Carpinteria once was the site of a large Chumash village.

These days, a Chevron access pier, from which boats service offshore oil platforms, has been built about 50 feet from the rookery. In spite of the pier traffic, the seals continue to gravitate to the spot.

Mark Holmgren, the watch’s biological adviser and a UC Santa Barbara biology professor, offered several reasons why: Offshore rocks provide a means for seals to haul themselves out of the sea while still protected by water, the beach is in a protected cove, and nearby kelp beds, where many varieties of fish live, supply abundant food so mothers can feed without having to leave their pups for long.

Holmgren described the watch as “a wildly successful effort.” Not only is the group trying to educate the public and protect the seals, but members record disturbances and the frequency with which seals respond to disruptions and slip back into the ocean. The information is compiled and presented in an annual report to the Carpinteria City Council and to Chevron.

“The data suggests very strongly that the effort is working in allowing the seals to endure fewer major disturbances at the site, and the decline in the number of disturbances is important in aiding reproduction and giving them a stable place that they can reliably use during critical times of the year,” Holmgren said.

Harbor seals, also known as common seals, can be grayish silver when young and turn dark brown as they age. They are found all along the West Coast of North America and also live on the East Coast and in Europe.

Watchers say they walk a tightrope between safeguarding the seals and facilitating visitors. “It’s an environmental dilemma,” Clark said. “Hordes of people are a nightmare, but the seals will be better off in the long run if more people learn about them and respect them.”

LOOKING FOR SEALS

Getting there: Take the Ventura Freeway to Carpinteria and exit at Bailard Avenue. Go over the freeway, turn right and park along Carpinteria Avenue, in nearby residential neighborhoods or continue on to the state beach at the foot of Palm Avenue. The seal rookery is on property owned by Chevron. Although the oil company does not enforce the “No Trespassing” signs, neither does it allow driving or walking on its roads or parking on its property. Visitors must walk about half a mile along the railroad tracks or across the Carpinteria Bluffs to reach the lookout points.

Rules and regulations: A Carpinteria ordinance prohibits people and dogs from being on the beach 750 feet on either side of the Chevron pier between Dec. 1 and May 31. Violators can be arrested and fined. A federal Marine Mammal Protection Act allows for fines up to $10,000 for harassing the seals.

Bring along: a pair of binoculars and a camera with a long lens.

Information: To learn more about the seals and the Seal Watch, call 684-2246.