Last updated: January 22, 2021
Place
Point Bonita Cove and Climate Change
Cristina Flores, Parks Conservancy
Point Bonita Cove provides shelter for a colony of harbor seals. These seals are sensitive to environmental change, so they can provide insight into the overall health of the ocean at large. Point Bonita Cove is an important ‘haul-out’ site providing a safe land area close to food sources where they can molt, rest, and nurse their pups.
As storms and flooding events become more frequent and extreme due to climate change, harbor seal pups will be increasingly swept out to sea and separated from their mothers. The National Park Service is protecting harbor seals by closing the cove to disturbances., and park biologists monitor the seal colonies to document population trends and learn how climate change may be affecting them.
As storms and flooding events become more frequent and extreme due to climate change, harbor seal pups will be increasingly swept out to sea and separated from their mothers. The National Park Service is protecting harbor seals by closing the cove to disturbances., and park biologists monitor the seal colonies to document population trends and learn how climate change may be affecting them.