Atlantic harbor seals in Cambridge and Somerville? As difficult as this may be to fathom, people do sometimes see harbor seals in the Mystic River, usually on the harbor side before the Amelia Earhart Dam. In Somerville, this is usually in Draw Seven Park.
Sometimes harbor seals make it past the dam. In December 2020, a harbor seal swam 8 miles upstream to the Lower Mystic Lake. Because of an impending storm, the Amelia Earhart Dam operators had opened the locks to lower the water level before the storm arrived. The harbor seal swam through, presumably following herring or other fish, up the river to the Lower Mystic Lake. A kayaker in the lake saw what he thought was a swimming dog, but upon closer inspection the swimming animal turned out to be a harbor seal. It appeared to be healthy and in good condition; harbor seals can live in fresh water as well as in salt water. It’s not known what became of this seal, but the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration believes it returned to the ocean.
I decided to head out with my camera to try to photograph a harbor seal in the Mystic River, but because it was a very cold day and the odds of seeing a harbor seal seemed low, I trekked to the New England Aquarium instead. There five elderly harbor seals frolic in a tank for visitors to see. Three of these harbor seals are descendants of a famous talking harbor seal named Hoover.
Have you heard of Hoover the talking harbor seal? In May 1971, a lobsterer in Maine found a baby harbor seal, only a day or two old. He and his brother-in-law, George Swallow, searched for the mother, only to discover she had been shot. So Swallow, who took care of stray animals frequently, brought the young seal home. At first, he tried to feed the seal milk from a bottle, but the seal refused to drink. Then he ground up mackerel into a slurry and soon the seal was sucking it down like a Hoover vacuum cleaner. The name Hoover was born!
Swallow had a pond in his backyard where the seal liked to swim. The man set up a pup tent near the pond so the seal could get out of the sun during the day and have a place to sleep at night. A marine biologist from Odin College gave Swallow some vitamin supplements and salt tablets.
Hoover acted more like a pet dog than a wild seal. Neighborhood children liked to give him rides in a wheelbarrow. Every evening when Swallow arrived home, he hit his hand against the side of his jeep and yelled, “Hey, stupid!” At this greeting, Hoover jumped out of the pond and hurried over to Swallow, giving him a fishy kiss. Sometimes Hoover rode shotgun in Swallow’s jeep, looking out the window while Swallow drove into Brunswick. Swallow talked to Hoover extensively, hollering things such as, “Hello there, Hoover,” or “Get outta there! Get over here!” (Hoover liked to hide.)
Eventually Hoover got to be a couple of feet long. Swallow decided to return Hoover to the wild where he belonged. He put Hoover in a skiff and took him out into the bay, and Hoover liked the water and swam around – but did not swim away as Swallow had hoped. When Swallow returned to shore in the skiff, Hoover swam up, flipped himself into the boat and rode back to shore with Swallow.
It was now August, and Swallow had difficulty keeping up with Hoover’s growth and need for fish. (Adult harbor seals can reach 6 feet in length and weigh 285 pounds.) Swallow contacted the New England Aquarium about taking over Hoover’s care. The aquarium agreed.
Swallow thought he had heard the seal say things that sounded like words, but he did not mention this to the aquarium staffers because he did not want them to think he was crazy. When Hoover reached sexual maturity four or five years later, he began to vocalize, most likely to impress the females. In 1974, he made gargling sounds. By 1977, he said things such as, “Hello there!” “Hoover” and “Hey! Hey! Hey! Get over here! ”
Hoover died at the aquarium in 1985. But three of his descendants (Amelia, 39, Trumpet, 31, and her son Chacoda, 29) can be found in the harbor seal tank today. None of the three “talk,” but Chacoda, the only male, does make some vocalizations.
Harbor seals have vocal tracts similar to the vocal tracts of people. In the wild, they vocalize to attract mates, to protect their territory, and to reunite with their pups. In captivity, harbor seals vocalize more as they get older, especially during breeding season.
Swallow was not the only person to raise a harbor seal. In the early 1900s, Capt. Billy McLeod, caretaker of Grape Island in Boston Harbor, found a baby seal on the beach, took it home and raised it. Whenever McLeod returned to Grape Island from a trip to Boston, the seal swam out to greet him and climbed into his boat to ride back to the island. The seal established a routine: In the morning it flippered its way from the house to the shore, where it took a swim, then returned to McLeod’s house. There, it knocked with a flipper three times to be let back inside. It rested in a box behind the stove until dinnertime. After dinner, the seal returned to the box for the night. McLeod said that although he had owned many dogs, there never was an animal more affectionate than his seal. Unfortunately, this seal died after ingesting green paint.
According to Emily Rand of the New England Aquarium, as recently as the 1970s harbor seals were not common near Boston. But in 1972, Congress passed laws that prohibited killing or disturbing marine mammals. These laws helped the seal population rebound, but there was another problem: Boston Harbor was polluted! Harbor pollution first became a problem in 1634 and only got worse over time. In addition to raw sewage, by the 1900s, pesticides, carcinogenic PCBs and heavy metals flowed into the harbor. Flounder, which fed on sewage sludge, had tumors in their livers.
But 1972 also saw Congress fortify the Clean Water Protection Act. Little by little water quality improved. In 1989, the Deer Island wastewater treatment plant halted the discharge of more than 10,000 gallons per day of floatable pollution such as grease, oil and plastics. In 1991, it halted sludge dumping. A $3.8 billion treatment plant began partial operation in 1995 and was fully operational by 2000. These projects reduced pollution in the harbor by 85 percent.
This winter, it is quite possible to see a harbor seal in Boston Harbor or in the nearby Mystic River. Keep your eyes peeled. These elusive creatures spend much of their time underwater, but if you are attentive, you might see one pop its head above the surface.
Have you taken photos of our urban wild things? Send your images to Cambridge Day, and we may use them as part of a future feature. Include the photographer’s name and the general location where the photo was taken.
Jeanine Farley is an educational writer who has lived in the Boston area for more than 30 years. She enjoys taking photos of our urban wild things.
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