Connections and Inspiration
Relationships
Kinship exists between all living beings.
Relationships don’t just exist between people, but also between different animals, both the same species and different species, as well as between humans and animals.
Not all relationships are directly transferable to human systems of morality, but the bonds exist in their own ways.
What are the relationships between seals? Between humans and seals?
Mother Pup Relationships
In a seal’s world, one of the first, and most important, relationships is that of a mom and her pup. Although this time together is short (only 3 weeks for gray seals), it is critical. '
While seal mothers might not “teach” their pups how to swim or feed, they offload huge amounts of calories via milk so that their pups might be able to figure out how to swim and forage on their own.
A female gray seal will give birth to a single pup nearly every year throughout her life. The breeding/pupping colony is a chaotic place, yet studies show that moms and pups can recognize each other by sound even after several years apart.
The William A. Watkins Collection of Marine Mammal Sound Recordings consists of recordings of more than 60 species of marine mammals collected over a span of seven decades in a wide range of geographic areas by Watkins and many others.
Listen to seal audio files from the Watkins Marine Mammal sound recordings at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.
Human Seal Relationships
Connections between people and seals are honored in art.
This pouch by Wampanoag artist Elizabeth James-Perry was created using techniques and materials from her own, and other partner coastal cultures, as part of a 2005 project funded by ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations).
People’s interest in seals has inspired the formation of several successful seal watching ecotour companies that offer boat- and land-based excursions, including the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Studying people’s attitudes towards seals
How can we understand our relationships to seals today? In Massachusetts, researchers have surveyed voters, anglers, and tourists to ask them how they feel about seals and the ocean ecosystem. All groups said they felt a bond with all living beings and understood seals are important to the ecosystem.
A pilot study was completed in 2016 on Nantucket, Massachusetts, which surveyed the attitudes of voters, anglers, and tourists.
In 2021, a full scale study on Cape Cod surveyed voters, tourists, and commercial fishermen about their views of seals and sharks. You can read more about the results here.
2016 Data: Jackman, J., Bettencourt, L. (2016). Seals, Conflicts, and Public Policy: A Pilot Study of Voter, Angler, and Tourist Attitudes toward Seals on the Massachusetts Coast. [Unpublished manuscript].
2021 Data: https://seagrant.whoi.edu/sealshark/
Read a summary of the findings here:
References:
Mom pup sound recognition
Watkins/Scheville sound: https://cis.whoi.edu/science/B/whalesounds/index.cfm
Contemporary, Social Science Studies:
Jackman, J., Bettencourt, L., Vaske, J., Sweeney, M., Bloom, K., Rutberg, A., & Brook, B. (2018). Conflict and consensus in stakeholder views of seal management on Nantucket Island, MA, USA. Marine Policy, 95, 166-173.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308597X17306450?via%3Dihub
Jackman, J. L., Vaske, J. J., Dowling-Guyer, S., Bratton, R., Bogomolni, A., & Wood, S. A. (2023). Seals and the Marine Ecosystem: Attitudes, Ecological Benefits/Risks and Lethal Management Views. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 1-17.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10871209.2023.2212686
https://seagrant.whoi.edu/sealshark/
https://seagrant.whoi.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/One-Page-Summary.pdf