Vagrant Ribbon Seal in Seattle, Washington, USA

[Angus Wilson]

Those on the west coast of Canada and the US might be interested to
know about a male RIBBON SEAL sighted on 11 Jan 2012 hauled out on a
dock in the Duwamish River near Seattle. Seen only once apparently.
This is well south of the normal range - predominantly the Bering and
Okhotsk Seas. Prior records south of this region include a debilitated
animal found beached in Morro Bay, California in early 1960's, a sub-
adult killed near Cordova, Alaska in the early 1980's, and an adult in
the Tsushima Strait between South Korea and Japan in the mid-90's. A
photo of this handsome animal can be seen here:

http://news.yahoo.com/rare-sea-creature-appears-seattle-womans-dock-152011178.html

Having watched those Opilio crab fishing shows on TV, I know that
Seattle is home port for many of the fishing vessels working in the
Bering Sea but in this case the possibility of ship-assisted vagrancy
seems a real stretch.....

Cheers, Angus Wilson
New York City, USA