Washington’s 30 Guadalupe fur seal records come from a narrow strip of outer coast, led by the Seashore Conservation Area along the beaches of Grays Harbor and Jefferson counties, with single animals recorded as far up the Olympic coast as Olympic National Park.
A southern seal that wanders north
The Guadalupe fur seal breeds almost entirely on Guadalupe Island off Baja California, after commercial sealers pushed it to the edge of extinction in the nineteenth century. The population has been rebuilding under protection, and as it grows, young animals disperse far beyond the rookeries. A fur seal hauled out on a Washington beach is usually one of these wanderers, resting or molting far from where it was born.
A summer visitor only
Washington’s records fall almost entirely in June and July, matching the post-breeding season when juvenile fur seals roam farthest north. Unlike the harbor seals and sea lions that live in state waters year-round, this species leaves no winter footprint here at all.
Status in Washington
The Guadalupe fur seal is treated as native to Washington’s marine waters, and USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous. The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern thanks to its recovery, and it remains protected as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Full species profile
