When I picked up this blog again it was clear I would not be able to catch up on everything that I made or took pictures of over the fourteen months of my absence. But some things I just cannot not show you, if you know what I mean.
One of those things happened last winter when a lot of seals were found on the beach. This happens pretty much every winter when the seal pups are born. If a storm hits they are not strong enough to swim back to the place they usually live and they stay on our beach until they are. Sometimes that's just one or two seals, sometimes it's a dozen, it's different every year. December 2019 was a good time to go seal watching, so here are some pictures I took during that time.
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| This is not a wounded seal, it's the umbilical cord, so this one is very very young. |
All these were taken with my zoom camera from a safe distance. It's important not to get too close to them. It causes stress and can even make a mother abandon her pup. Tourists often feel bad for the pups when they see them lying all alone, but nine out of ten times the mother is out in the sea to hunt for food for her young.
Also, if you get too close to the adult seals, you may live to regret it. People tend to forget they are fierce predators, and not to be messed with.
But it sure is a wonderful sight to behold.
You can see in some cases there is green spraypaint on the pups, this is a signal for the people who keep an eye on them, that a certain pup has been spotted before and doesn't need to be reported again. It means they will be taken care of if the mother doesn't return.
Having these seals on our island every year keeps being special and I enjoy it every time.
Hope you have something to be fascinated by and wishing you a wonderful and artsy day.