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ould it be? A seal on the shores of the Neuse, just a few miles from Oriental? That was the question Dawn Gainey posed Saturday in an email to TownDock.net.

My parents live on the river, close to the China Grove house. Yesterday my dad watched a seal or sea lion on the end of their dock. According to him he moved up and down the dock and relaxed in the sun until their dog noticed and ran him back into the river. My first question was to ask if he’d been drinking. He’s certain of what he saw, saying it reminded him of seeing the animals on the docks in San Francisco. I’m emailing to see if you are aware of any other sightings.

We’ve seen otters and minks in or alongside the Neuse. But like the dolphins, they are natives. In recent years, there’ve also been rare sightings of exotics such as alligator and manatees. But seals – those mammals who normally ply Arctic waters many degrees of latitude north of here? Is it possible?

TownDock asked if others had seen what Dawn’s father had. Pat Young wrote in from nearby Dawsons Creek.:

My husband and I have a place on the river near the China Grove house. I recently saw a mink, and we frequently see dolphins. In fact, this past summer, my adult son saw a dolphin pod going up river one morning. When they returned later in the afternoon, there was a small, pink dolphin with them. Newborn dolphins are pink, and we think it must have been born up the river that day.

Attached is a photo I took of an otter who visited us one day this winter.

We haven’t seen any seals though.

Pat Young
Dawson’s Creek

All this talk about seals has another Dawsons Creek resident reconsidering an encounter a few months ago.

Judy & I live on Dawsons Creek and late one evening last fall (for no specific reason) I walked our dock to the end, spotlight in hand. About 60’ from the end of the dock, I heard these strange shrills and turned on the spotlight to see at least 3 (there may have been others) torpedo-shaped bodies flinging themselves off the end of the dock and splashing into the creek.

For a moment it was total chaos, with splashing, and sounds. It was a bit hazy, so my light beam didn’t go far, but I continued to hear splashing on out away from the dock and out into the creek.

It was both frightening & thrilling simultaneously. I returned several more times that night and other nights, but no other such encounters occurred . I told several of my neighbors, both suggesting otter, or even Nutrias, but in my eyes, that didn’t match ……. these were larger animals. They were definitely water creatures who once in the water, could go “stealth.” The thought of them being seals never entered my thinking, but having read about these other sightings, I have no problem saying that this sounds very much like what I stumbled on.

Al Privette

Meanwhile, reader Don Millman says he sighted a seal 7 years ago, in 2008 in Aurora.

Attached photo of a seal resting on the rip-rap at the entrance to the PCS boat docks on the south shore of the Pamlico River.

Don Millman

Still another reader wrote in to suggest that as odd as it might sound, there might well be seals around here.

Fort Macon State Park has reported seals on the beaches resting. Don’t know if one could have gone up the ICW to Oriental. I suppose it’s possible.

The following is from the NC Coastal Federation: Why are Arctic Seals Appearing on N.C. Beaches?

Sue LaPalme

That account on the Coastal Federation website sheds some light on the seals showing up at Oregon Inlet, far from their normal waters.

A reader notes another Outer Banks sighting.

My friend has a beach house out in Salvo. They found one on the beach that they thought was injured. They called Wildlife but a dog chased it into the water before Wildlife people arrived.

Penny Larson

Back to the original question about a sighting near China Grove, Jonathon Weis wrote in about that area of Janeiro Road and sent along a photo of his own.

That straight section of road before the bend by China Grove has all sorts of critters crossing the highway. I have hit a deer, clipped a fox, possibly a wolf..an owl or large bird (too dark) seen a bobcat, and even a rogue snapping turtle. Had a deer take out the front end of my ford pickup truck going 30 mph…

It looks to be an oversized river otter, well fed at that. I have named the critter in the photo, Max. There is a pair of them living on Lee Landing Road, outside of Oriental, too. Max was solo as the photo shows.

Jonathon Weis

As the Coastal Federation article notes, there’ve been officially confirmed sightings of seals — plural — near Oregon Inlet. But are they venturing beyond there, and further in to the brackish waters of the Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River?

That open question sent us to looking for some tips on telling the difference between seals and otters. (We’re leaving sea lions, native to the Pacific Coast, out of the discussion for now.)

Though they make look similar, they are not related. Otters belong to the Mustelidae family, weasels basically, while seals are grouped with the pinnipeds which include walruses. For telling them apart, one rule of thumb is that otters have webbed paws and sharp claws while seals have short, wide flippers. And otters have layers of dense fur while the seal stays warm thanks to a layer of blubber under the outer skin that looks more sleek.

To confuse things a bit, some seals do have fur. These are called fur seals, a helpful bit of info, but only if they could introduce themselves. There are differences among the otters, too. River otters have muscular, long tails – sea otters do not.

Update: Ray Everest reminds us that SEALS have been seen in Oriental’s harbor in recent years.

In reference to the story on seal sightings in North Carolina, want you to know they have been documented and photographed before. Thought you might be interested:

Ray Everest
Oriental

Your sightings and observations and photos welcomed. Drop a line here at news@towndock.net

Posted Sunday March 1, 2015 by Melinda Penkava