Thursday, April 29, 2010

Harbor seal pup at Salt Point State Park

A tender moment

We had a great weekend trip camping in Salt Point State Park, which is a gem of a park on the Sonoma Coast. On our first morning there we headed down to an overlook that is frequented by harbor seals. The mid-morning light was really harsh and these pictures are cropped more than I prefer to do, but the interactions between a mother harbor seal and her pup were fantastic to witness!

Nursing harbor seal pup

In addition to watching the little one pester its mom to nurse, we also got to see them swimming around in the somewhat sheltered pools between the rocks. Just like a human kid, the pup seemed to just want to keep in constant motion, when it really looked like the mom wanted to take a break out of the water for a while.

A scratch on the head

More than once, they were hauled out on the rocks and the pup would wiggle away and into the water. The mother would watch it for a while, and you could almost see the exasperation on her face as the pup would get too far away and she'd have to head back into the water and corral the pup back to the rocks.

Hungry pup

This is a different seal who was also hanging out there as well, occasionally stretching and trying to find that perfectly comfortable position.

Stretching seal

2 comments:

  1. What a great series !! That are wonderful pics filled with tenderness ! Thanks for sharing :)

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  2. A really wonderful set of images and what a lovely thing to witness.

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