Seal watching is something that everyone does when visiting a beach on Cape Cod. Not only is it fun to see if you can spot one, but it is also especially important to be aware of seals in case of sharks following in their wake. There are many fantastic locations across the Cape that are great for seal watching, but there are some that are the best. These six locations are where you can see many, many seals during the right time of year. Whether watching seals from a distance at Lighthouse Beach, or watching seals follow the boats in at the Chatham Fish Pier, or even being on a boat yourself watching the massive haul-out of seals on the sandbars at Monomoy; Cape waters have no shortage of seals!
Be sure to check out these great photos of seals from the six locations as well as some additional views of the beaches themselves!
Watch a couple of curious seals at the Chatham Fish Pier!
Be very wary of “seal watching” tours on the Cape. You can see far more seals by taking a walk along the shore in the National Seashore than you can from any of these overpriced boats.
Are many seals around this time of year? (July 2018)
Do you have any tips on whale watching for this month July? I don’t like tours either unless they’re absolutely necessary. Any spots from land to see them or any good times?
I think they need to take immediate action to thin out the seal population. Everyone thinks these are cute little seals. The truth is they are as big as an adult human and are polluting and out fishing the Monomoy Island area. I took a seal watch several years ago and thought the over population was disgusting then. It is much worse today. They attract sharks, and soon there won’t be a beach on that side of the cape that is safe to swim in.
Disgusting? Really? The ocean belongs to them as well as the sharks etc. You do not need to live in it let alone swim in it. If it doesn’t appeal to you then maybe it’s time to live or vaca someplace else.
That’s crazy talk. Or maybe trollspeak. Who knows?
Lisa you sound crazy. Hippy
Not as bad as the disgusting overpopulation of humans, namely you.
Are you stupid ? I’ll answer yes. Seals don’t attack sharks … dolphins do. The seals are only here because we’re not allowed to kill them anymore. The sharks are now here in 3 feet of water ready to feast. Since you care so much about sharks. This is great for them. Litteraly the population of humans is what we need to worry about and the amount of food resources we have. Stop eating meat.
I agree joan… 2 attacks In a month. No good
I have seen far more humans than seals.
You should be happy to still have the chance to see animals.
Are you by any chance a fisherman or related to one? If a species becomes over populated, it is by natural selection that it is thinned out and brought back into numbers. Not by a human decision. Just remember that those seals are federally protected and it is a crime to do harm to them.
Lol…. I happen to be somewhat of an expert on ‘natural selection’. I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but we ‘humans’ are an integral part of natural selection.
So let me get this straight…. If lions stop hunting zebras altogether and zebras begin to flourish and overpopulate…… Is THAT natural selection? But if humans do the same thing that’s NOT natural selection? Go back, do some reading, start thinking, get some perspective.
I agree with Richard …. 2 shark attacks within a month?… 1 death? Get rid of the seals or lose your beach
CAPE’S EMERGING WILDLIFE RESERVE: Thanks to Pres. Kennedy and fellow Cape Cod enthusiasts, the Cape Cod National Seashore was created by the Federal government in 1961 to keep undeveloped areas on the Lower & Outer Cape from being broken into small private properties. The Upper & Mid Cape’s interior land and shoreline had already been subdivided into small lots, with exclusive, privately-owned waterfronts.
Seals or sharks were not part of the Cape’s habitat, and they would not be a menace today, if the government had listened to the concerns of fishermen, surfers, ORV drivers, and beachgoers. There are no plans to prevent them from taking over more and more prime real estate. In fact, it appears that the National Seashore is now intentionally being turned into a National Wildlife Reserve, with less and less of the waterfront available for public access and recreational enjoyment. In recent years, roads, parking areas, campgrounds, bike trails and historic sites within the Seashore have consistently been underfunded.
They are here because there are no big numbers of Striper in the ocean anymore. So they come to us. We have all the fish. So the whole ocean food chain is about to become your neighbor. Now they fully recognize us as competition for food. So if they can’t beat us they decided to join us, hoping we will share.