Seals and Society: Our Complex Relationship with Seals in the Northwest Atlantic

Now more than ever, there is a need to understand the role seals play in our ecosystem and to understand their role as sentinel species.

Through collaborative research and engagement, much is being learned across the region. Join Dr. Andrea "Dre" Bogomolni, Chair and co-founder of the Northwest Atlantic Seal Research Consortium, and Whaling Museum Associate Curator of Science and Research Robert Rocha, for a discussion surrounding recent findings. Dr. Bogolmoni will share insights into how we study seals, what we are learning about their place in the greater ecosystem, and what seals are telling us about our complex relationship with the natural world.

Between 1880-1962, gray and harbor seals were targeted in legal seal bounty hunts across Maine and Massachusetts due to a perceived competition with commercial fisheries. Since then, the return of seals to historical grounds along the New England coast has been a conservation success story, but conflict has re-emerged and so has the spread of misinformation.

Dr. Andrea "Dre" Bogomolni is a community scientist, naturalist, artist, biologist, and conservationist with a passion for the ocean. Working with a range of collaborators including scientists, fishermen, and artists, she aims to understand not just seals, but our human relationship with the natural world, and to identify ways we can help preserve, protect, and sustainably use the limited resources nature provides.

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Category: Attractions | Talks and Lectures