Were Seals Here the Whole Time?

This summer, we invite you to explore the experiences and accomplishments of our 2025-2026 Bass Connections project teams. This series features team-written profiles that showcase the discoveries, challenges and impact of teams who spent the year tackling real-world problems.

Harbor seals, once nearly eliminated from the East Coast, have rebounded since gaining federal protection in 1972 and have been reported along North Carolina’s coast since 2010. The Unraveling the History of Harbor Seals in North Carolina team investigated whether these sightings represent a return to historical habitat or a southward expansion into a new range. By examining newspaper archives, museum collections, scientific literature, citizen science platforms, archaeological sites and stranding records, team members compiled and evaluated historical evidence of seals in the state and found that seals are not new to North Carolina’s coast.

This team was led by Madeleine Paris (Ph.D. Student, Nicholas School of the Environment) and Andrew Read (Nicholas School of the Environment: Marine Science and Conservation).

By: Members of the Unraveling the History of Harbor Seals in North Carolina team

This profile has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Harbor seals, the most widely distributed pinniped in the world, were once nearly eliminated from the east coast of the United States and Canada. Protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, the population has since rebounded and seals have been reported off the North Carolina coast since 2010. By examining records from newspapers, museums, scientific literature, citizen science platforms, archeological sites and stranding networks, our team investigated the historical occurrence of seals in North Carolina. We wanted to understand if seals were recolonizing former habitat or were expanding their range to the south for the first time.

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We began the year with a variety of guest lectures to provide necessary background information on harbor seal ecology, research methods and historical ecology. We examined publicly available datasets and the stranding record, where it was possible to easily compile relevant records. After this initial round of searching, our team divided into subteams to work on more challenging data sources: historical newspapers, archeological records and scientific literature. 

Each subteam compiled a wide breadth of records, systematically screening them for relevancy. We searched for records of all seal species, not just harbor seals, due to uncertainties and omissions of species identification. We found 105 newspaper records, eight peer-reviewed scientific records and one archeological report of seals in North Carolina, spanning from pre-colonial times to the present day. Taken together, all of our records indicate that seals are not at all new to the coast of North Carolina.

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While the graph above shows an uptick in seal reports since the 1990s, this can be attributed to the formalization of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network in 1992 and the rise of online citizen science platforms like iNaturalist. 

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Newspaper records were found along the North Carolina coast, with hotspots in Dare County, which includes Oregon Inlet, as well as in Craven, Carteret, New Hanover and Brunswick counties.

Our team had the opportunity to travel repeatedly to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, participating in a behind-the-scenes tour of the mammal collection and as partners for their Marine Mammal Research Day. 

In April, we presented our findings at the Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase at Duke, as well as at the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Maine Mammal Symposium held at UNC-Wilmington.

By documenting the long-term history of seals in the region, our project provides historical context that can inform public understanding, conservation outreach and future research on marine mammal populations in the southeastern United States.

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Team Leader Reflection

Madeleine Paris (Ph.D. student; Nicholas School of the Environment)

The Bass Connections program gave me the opportunity to engage with and lead students in research scholarship, and I remain incredibly grateful for that experience. I learned so much. I gained skills in project-based course design, teaching, student engagement, research design, logistics and many, many other areas. I really enjoyed my time with the students and am so proud of where they took this project. To see them engage with ideas and collaborate to produce high-quality research was such a rewarding experience.

Learn More

• Browse additional summer series highlights.
• Explore additional teams in the Energy & Environment theme.
• Learn about the project team experience through stories from students.

Main image: Maddie Paris and Maryam Maryam Krauss at Marine Mammal Research Day at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Photo: Courtesy of Madeleine Paris)