Annual articles in the official Chinese press show harbor seals in the 'ecological seal bay' near Yantai City. The images are often of seals 'trapped by ice', who wait to be fed by workers at the 'scenic area', apparently part of the Great Nanshan tourist project. The seals appear to be in an enclosed body of water, and not strictly speaking 'wild' harbor seals.
However, the Xinhua News Agency reports that around 200 seals migrate from the far north from March to June every year to breed in the warmer waters of northeast China. Additionally, the report adds that harbor seals are 'under China's state-level protection.'.

Photo/Xinhua Fair Use

Despite having been on the Japanese Red List as 'endangered' for several decades, the Asahi Shimbun reports that the Environment Ministry has recently determined that with a population of approximately 1000 adults, harbor seals in Japanese waters are only 'near threatened'. This is, in part, due to fishermen claiming that seals are causing damage by eating salmon caught in commercial nets. This follows an earlier decrease of the estimated numbers to around 350 in the 1970s.
Although the Ministry intended to determine what the 'optimum' harbor seal population would be - consulting with fishermen, among others - in March 2016, that plan has not yet been formulated. The numbers that are being dealt with seem miniscule and unsustainable when compared with 100s of thousands of harbor seals in other areas of the Pacific and Atlantic where they generally thrive.

Asahi Shimbun File Photo Fair Use.

This is our first image of an Insular seal (P.v.stejnegeri), graciously offered to us by an inspired (and well-travelled) Danish wildlife photographer. This harbor seal subspecies lives along the northeastern coasts of Asia, from the islands of Japan to the tip of the Aleutians.
This mature seal was found in the waters of the Commander State Natural Reserve, an island nature preserve in the Kamchatka region with exceptional diversity of flora and fauna. With the exception of tragically over-hunted species such as the Steller's sea cow, most of the animals traditionally found here can be seen by ecotourists on naturalist-guided excursions, and are protected within its boundaries.

Photo copyright Morten Joergensen. Used by permission.

Adak Island has had the largest human presence of any of the Aleutian Islands, primarily due to WWII military activity and an extensive Naval Air Station, bringing over 4600 residents in 1990. Base closures in 1997 lowered that to around 300 today. Almost in the exact center of the Aleutian Island chain, half of the island is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge while the other half, including abandoned Navy and Coast Guard buildings, is owned by the Aleut Native Corporation.
Harbor seals here are part of what is referred to as the 'Aleutian Stock', which tend to be darker than others in Alaskan waters. Recent NOAA surveys put the Aleutian harbor seal population at around 3500, with an average of 90 harvested yearly by local subsistence hunters, according to the Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission.
Most of the Clam Lagoon seals satellite tagged by NOAA Alaska Fisheries researchers in September 2014 have remained either in the Lagoon or in nearby waters.

Photo by Dave Withrow, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
NOAA Fisheries Service
Used by permission.

Tour boats at Northwestern Glacier and other locations in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska often see groups of seals hauled out on small ice floes. The cold, nutrient-rich water provides them excellent feeding opportunities and relative isolation.

Original photo by Christina Jacobs. Used by permission under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Nonderivative License.

Race Rocks, a Canadian Marine Protected Area, is a set of small islands and intertidal and subtidal reefs located just south of Vancouver Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Seals are not protected only here, according to the photographer. She reports that Canadian law prohibits intentionally disturbing them and 'the general guidline is to stay 100 metres away.'

Photo by 'Aqua Green'.
Used by permission.

The San Juan Islands of Washington are perhaps better known for their whale watching (think Orca, the carniverous 'killer whale') than for their harbor seals.
The photographer comments, 'Our resident orcas eat fish, and this photo was taken during a very close pass of all three pods that summer (84+ whales). The seals - as you can see - could not have cared less that the big guys were in the water not 4 feet off the rocks.'
The February 2000 Seal Atlas from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recorded over 50 resting/haulout/pupping sites in the San Juan Channel alone, and counts up to 500 animals at two of these locations.
Despite the MMPA, local residents still report 'shot seals' on occasion, with the culprits as yet unidentified.

Photo copyright Sandy Buckley.
Used by permission.

The Crook Point Unit of Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge is closed to public access, and is part of a vast marine refuge including nearly all the off-shore islands and rocks of the state of Oregon. Although seals here are protected by the 1973 MMPA, the population numbers have been so robust and stable that no attempt is made at rescue or rehabilitation of stranded animals.
Along the mainland, hundreds of seals can often be easily seen on beach haulouts such as one on Alsea Bay, in Waldport. Where not disturbed, these are likely to be preferred pupping areas. The Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network maintains a vigorous 'Don't Touch Seal Pups' program, and only interferes with 'nature's course' when a stranded animal is entangled in human debris such as fishing gear.

Photo by David Ledig/USFWS.
Used by permission courtesy Roy W. Lowe.

The Hopkins Marine Station at Monterey is a research project of Stanford University, and has maintained a closed stretch of shoreline for over 100 years. Immediately adjacent to a heavily touristed road between Cannery Row and 17 Mile Drive, a large harbor seal colony survives undisturbed, but well-studied!

Sealwatch.org photo.

Isla Todos Santos is a pair of islands west of Ensenada, the nearest just 3.5 miles NW of the Punta Banda peninsula. Although kayakers and fishing boats head for their waters, it is for the world-famous Killers break that most tourists come, to surf, or watch others do so, in some of the biggest and most powerful accessible waves on Earth.
Historically, there have been seasonal fishing camps on Isla del Sur, and an automated lighthouse on the NW tip. Harbor seals being notoriously wary of human intrusions, they are less likely to be seen when the surfing areas get crowded with daytrippers in the summer and fall.

Photo by David Wimpfheimer
CalNaturalist.com
Used by permission.

Yes, that's one alarmed bunch of seals!
Along with Isla Todos Santos (see previous location) and the other Pacific Islands along the Baja California coast, Isla San Jerónimo has been the recipient of significant restoration efforts by NOAA of the USA as an attempt to mitigate pollution caused by DDT/DDE production in the Los Angeles region of California.
The University of Baja California (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California) and the Ensenada Research and Higher Education Center (CICESE, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada) have been studying the biology and ecology of harbor seals and other pinnipeds on all haul-out sites along the islands west of the Baja California peninsula since 2008. The abundance of harbor seals in Mexico has been estimated to be around 6,000 individuals.

Photo by
Alejandro Arias-Del Razo
CICESE
Used by permission.

Due to environmental factors not yet fully understood, Isla Asunción marks the southern limit of harbor seals in the Pacific Ocean. With colonies on both Asunción and San Roque closely to the north, the seals share their habitat with seal lions, gray whales, local fishing boats, snorkeling tourists, and, until recently, introduced mammals which have wiped out seabird nesting sites.
Situated within El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, the largest wildlife refuge in Mexico, Asunción was among the first islands to have a completed feral cat removal program, with hopes of restoring avian species such as the Xantus' Murrelet and Cassin's Auklet. The island is scarcely a mile from the mainland, and although barren and arid it is surrounded by rich waters fed by the strong upwelling ocean currents, which sustain not only seals but a thriving local abalone and lobster industry.
The fishery is protected by vigilant co-operatives, with federally authorized powers to discourage intruders poaching in their designated area. Based in the large Bahía Asunción village, each summer, on the first day of Assumption fiestas, a 'panga' fishing boat from the fleet brings the statue of Mary from the town church on a ride around the island. Blessed with abundant food, an uninhabited island shore, and humans commited to conserving their habitat, the harbor seals of Asunción really have no reason to go further south.
Students and professors at the Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, actively pursue research and investigations of the marine species and their environment at the island.

Photo by
Alejandro Arias-Del Razo
CICESE
Used by permission.