A finny tale

CHATHAM

SEALS WERE marching on South Beach last week. Scientists aren't certain what is bringing the gray seals so close to the shoreline here. It might be curiosity, fear of predators, foraging opportunities, or some unknown motive. Regardless, it made for one great pinniped parade.

Things got off to a spooky start Aug. 4, when a seal carcass washed up on the town's isolated North Beach. State environmental officials said it was the work of a great white shark. No one gave it much thought. Seals, after all, are to sharks what hay is to horses. But a second attack Aug. 12 was witnessed by several people near the landmark Chatham Light on popular South Beach. The film crews and reporters started to arrive. Next up would be the predictable references to the 1975 movie "Jaws."

In reality, there was no panic, no venal politicians intent on putting tourism dollars ahead of the public's safety, no grizzled shark hunters. Environmentalists issued warnings about swimming too close to the seals. It worked. Who wants to be mistaken for a creature with a thick layer of insulation blubber? Lifeguards and an environmental official addressed the occasional safety concern. Kids still splashed in the sea. For adults, it was the chilly water, not fear of cold-blooded sharks, that precluded ocean dips.

Chatham offered its visitors a rare opportunity for up-close, extended visits with scores of gray seals. The species name "Halichoerus grypus" doesn't necessarily evoke the warm feelings of the smaller, cuter harbor seal. But "hook-nosed pig of the sea" (the translation) seems unfairly critical of gray seals, even the bull males that can weigh several hundred pounds. Its snout suggests a horse or donkey more than it does a pig. For the most part, the creatures simply bobbed vertically -- a behavior known as bottling -- just a few yards offshore. You gaze at them and they gaze at you. Should a boat pass within a few hundred yards, the seals would turn en masse and follow its progress for a while. Satisfied it meant no harm, they would turn again to shore and resume their rubbernecking.

Gray seals have been thriving since passage of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. Research biologist Gordon Waring of the federal Northeast Fisheries Science Center says that the last official census in 1999 found about 6,000 gray seals living between Plymouth and Chatham. But that figure could have doubled by now. Waring suspects that the recent seal behavior might have something to do with last spring's northeaster that punched a gap in the barrier beach that protects Chatham from the Atlantic. Absent more research, he says, it's anyone's guess why they are hugging this busy shore.

I favor the predator theory. Like prudent people, smart seals locate the nearest exit.

LAWRENCE HARMON