Old dock converted to harbor seal platform near Encinal Beach

ALAMEDA, CA—Harbor seals, those sleek and slinky residents of San Francisco Bay, now have a new venue where they can bask after swimming – a floating platform just offshore between Encinal Beach and the USS Hornet museum in Alameda.

Harbor seals prey on anchovies, herring and bottom-dwelling fish in the bay. But they need to get out of the water in a safe place to warm up between swims.

Enter the Water Emergency Transportation Authority, a regional public transit agency. When WETA moved its maintenance facilities to Alameda, it had planned to destroy an old dock where a few seals often basked. When wildlife advocates objected, WETA financed construction of a floating platform where the seals could haul out.

Only known floating platform specifically for seals

The platform is 20 by 25 feet, with one side sloped to allow the seals easy access from the water. Constructed of reinforced concrete with a Styrofoam core, it’s the only known floating platform in the world built specifically for seals. The designer was Dr. Jim Harvey, director of San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories.

The seals seem to like it. Up to 80 of them have squeezed together on it, and mother seals have been seen nursing their pups there.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act includes harbor seals. Boaters and kayakers should watch from a distance. If the seals raise their heads, it means that they feel threatened, and you should back off. They can be seen easily with binoculars from the shoreline Bay Trail.

East Bay Regional Park District’s Encinal Beach is located at the end of a road off Alameda’s Central Avenue, just past Encinal High School and Lincoln Avenue.

For more information and a map, visit www.facebook.com/alamedaseals1. To volunteer and report observations, contact alamedaharborseals@gmail.com.

Return of fee collection

Fee collection has resumed at many East Bay regional parks. To encourage easy public access and use of regional parks and trails during the pandemic, the park district waived collection of all fees in 2020. However, the district resumed charging fees on Jan. 4 this year in order to help fund many of the programs and services that it hopes to reopen when the pandemic subsides.

Fees include parking, camping, fishing and boat launching. Fees may also be reinstated for use of seasonal facilities and services such as swimming, reservable picnic areas, and recreational programs, if these activities can resume later this year.

The basic parking fee is $5 per vehicle ($6 at Del Valle south of Livermore). In fact most regional parks charge no parking or entry fees. And those that do so at major entrances often have other entrances that are free of charge.

Ned MacKay writes a regular column about East Bay Regional Park District sites and activities. Email him at nedmackay@comcast.net.