FireIslandandbeyond.com fishing editor Paul Peluso checked in this morning with some images of a Humpback Whale off the beach at Smith Point.
Paul tells me the Whale was feeding on bunker and headed toward Moriches Inlet. Unfortunately he left his big Sigma Zoom lens at home but still got a few decent shots.
Shortly after I ran into a large seal in the same general area.
Dr. Artie Kopelman of the Coastal Reseach and Education Society of Long Island (Cresli) tells me this is a Grey Seal, not nearly as common as the Harbor Seals that spend the winter at Cupsogue beach.
These large Seals are most common along the Canadian coast but do appear on Long Island primarily on the East end.
According to Dr. Kopelman’s research, Grey Seals only make up about 4% of the Long Island Seal population and only account for .006% of the Seals catalogued at Cupsogue Beach.
Grey Seals can grow to 8 feet and 800 pounds and are sometimes referred to as “horesehead” due to the shape of their head and snout.
More information on these are available on the Cresli site here.
Stay tuned, Fireislandandbeyond.com has some great content lined up with both Seals and Humpback Whales in the very near future.
