Pinniped Haulout

A pinniped haulout is a terrestrial or ice site where seals, sea lions, and walruses leave the water to rest, molt, thermoregulate, and give birth, distinct from a rookery used mainly for breeding. Haulouts are sensitive to human disturbance, which can trigger stampedes and pup mortality, so they are managed with approach buffers and seasonal closures, and protected as marine mammal habitat under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act. Haulout counts are a standard index of population abundance and trend, and the sites concentrate animals that stranding networks and disease surveillance programs monitor.