Why it’s normal to see seals on our beaches

It’s not uncom­mon for these fas­ci­nat­ing crea­tures to catch the eye of beach­go­ers, espe­cial­ly when they appear to be just float­ing there. Under­stand­ably, this can lead to some con­cern — many peo­ple assume the seal might be sick or in dis­tress. But in most cas­es, there’s no need to worry.

What you’re wit­ness­ing is a behav­iour called ther­moreg­u­la­tion, and it’s a com­plete­ly nor­mal and healthy activ­i­ty for seals. Let’s dive into what ther­moreg­u­la­tion is and why these seals are per­fect­ly fine when you see them in our waters.

What is thermoregulation?

Seals, like us, need to man­age their body tem­per­a­ture to stay com­fort­able. When they float in the shal­lows with one or more of their flip­pers in the air, they’re often reg­u­lat­ing their body tem­per­a­ture. Seals have many blood ves­sels in their flip­pers that sit just under the sur­face of the skin. Expos­ing their flip­pers to the air allows heat to either be absorbed from the envi­ron­ment to warm them up or to release heat to cool them down. 

You might notice that some seals look like they’re sim­ply chill­ing out, while oth­ers might appear a bit lethar­gic. This is all part of their nat­ur­al process. Just like how we might seek shade on a hot day or bun­dle up when it’s cold, seals have their own ways of stay­ing comfortable. 

Why do they choose our beaches?

Ade­laide’s metro beach­es pro­vide an ide­al spot for seals to rest and ther­moreg­u­late. The sandy shores and rel­a­tive­ly calm waters make it eas­i­er for them to relax and rest. It’s a bit like how we might choose a favourite spot to unwind — seals just hap­pen to pick our beau­ti­ful beaches!

Should you be concerned?

We often receive calls from well-mean­ing beach­go­ers who are wor­ried about these seals, and we’re grate­ful for the com­mu­ni­ty’s care for our wildlife. How­ev­er, in most cas­es, these seals are not sick; they’re sim­ply engag­ing in their nat­ur­al behaviour. 

Seals are a pro­tect­ed species under the Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Act 1972. It’s impor­tant to give them space to rest and avoid dis­turb­ing them. Keep your dis­tance, admire them from afar, and let them con­tin­ue their day in peace. You must not approach a seal clos­er than 30m on land or 30m when swim­ming. Addi­tion­al restric­tions apply to jet­skis, motorised ves­sels, sail boats, kayaks and paddleboards. 

If you do see a seal that seems to be injured or in obvi­ous dis­tress, you can con­tact your local Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Duty Offi­cer. But rest assured, see­ing seals in our waters par­tic­u­lar­ly dur­ing cool­er months, is usu­al­ly just a sign that they’re tak­ing care of them­selves — not that they need us to intervene.

So next time you see a long-nosed fur seal, take a moment to appre­ci­ate the unique glimpse into their world. It’s a reminder of the incred­i­ble wildlife we share our coast­line with and the impor­tance of under­stand­ing and respect­ing their nat­ur­al behaviours.