Catherine BabaultFor #WildlifeWednesday here's a photo of a harbour seal resting on an islet in Quatsino Sound. We were on a boat and kept a respectful distance because the seals were resting. We didn't want them to waste energy by jumping into the water.
From my archives.
#wildlife #photography #nature #VancouverIsland #BritishColumbia #Quatsino #VancouverIslandWildlife #WildlifePhotography
PhilSalkie@CatherineBabault@mastodon.social
Many years ago I had an overnight in Atlantic City, NJ. Decided to walk along the deserted beach at night, and in the distance spotted what appeared to be a body washed up from the ocean.
As I approached, I saw it wasn't a body, but a harbor seal which had been perched (like the one in your photo) on a storm drain pipe. When the tide went out, it was stuck and couldn't get off the pipe!
I found some police, who called the Brigantine Seal Rescue folks. They took some time to arrive, so one of the cops and I tried to use a blanket to move the seal.
NEVER DO THAT! They're cute and have big eyes and have a HUGE MOUTH FULL OF BLUNT TEETH WITH CHUNKS OF ROTTING FISH IN THEM AND THEY NEVER BRUSH AND THEY"RE FAST AS SNAKES!
So, after Officer Odie and I got done jumping backwards and wetting ourselves, we continued to wait for the Seal Lady to arrive. She showed up with a huge net, and explained to everyone that you should never get close to a seal because they look cute but are fast as greased light and their bite is worse than a shark bite, their teeth are blunt and full of rotting fish.
Officer Odie and I nodded sagely and said we'd never even think of getting near enough to a seal to get bitten.
Seal Lady looked over the seal, said he seemed healthy and only had a couple of seal pox, so we could release him. We each took one end of the 30 foot long seal net, scooped the middle over the seal, and hoisted its butt off the pipe.
Rescue achieved!