The Orca Network has issued its annual reminder to leave the cute, adorable, furry seal pups alone.

Nursing pups remain with their mothers for 4 to 6 weeks and are then weaned to forage and survive on their own. Harbor seal pups may hang out in the same place for several days or weeks at a time; this does not mean they are abandoned. Pups that are being weaned must learn to survive and forage for food. Weaned pups will spend extended hours on shore resting and regulating their body temperature.

In a news release from Orca Network, beach goers were urged to “respect nature’s role.”

“Up to 50 percent of the pups born will not survive their first year of life,” the release stated.

Many harbor seal pups are too young to have developed protective wariness (escape response) and may not flee when approached while resting and warming up on shore. Harbor seals use log booms, docks, and shoreline habitat on a daily basis to rest and regulate their body temperature.

Seal pups are born in our inland waters June through August. There are 3,000-5,000 harbor seal pups born in Washington inland waters each year. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act harbor seal populations have recovered to healthy numbers. The harbor seal population is at its maximum size that the environment can sustain indefinitely.

Stay back 100 yards if possible, keep dogs on a leash, and if the animal is injured call the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network at 1-866-ORCANET (866-672-2638) for Island, Skagit, and Port Susan beaches; or call the NOAA Fisheries regional hotline at 1-866-767-6114 for pups in other areas of the Salish Sea.