May 27: Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach tableau:

stone, lichen, shell, seaweed

where do the seals fit in?

January 8: Perched seal

Waiting for the moment

when the rising tide 

floats the seal off its rock.

September 4: In the channel

Noisy fishing seals--

not knowing we're there

a woman snorts back at them.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

May 30: Return

As we ferry home
seals basking with pups.
I'd like to slip out of my skin.

January 17: Otter joy

We joined some friends in chasing a bird today in Winter Harbor--Maine's second record of a Black-throated Sparrow, a bird that belongs in Arizona--and after we found it, did some sea-watching on the Schoodic Peninsula. Amid the sea ducks and alcids, we were thrilled to spot three otters swimming together with grace and power through the sizable swells. Then we heard a loud chirping noise that at first we thought belonged to some strange bird, but which we quickly realized was being made by a fourth otter. It joined the original three otters, with a seal close behind it. The four otters rapidly headed for shore together and climbed up into some sort of den in the rocks. We think the chirping was some sort of alarm call, to warn the others of the seal. An exciting experience to witness as we huddled, cold and awkward, on shore: animals completely at home in a habitat so inhospitable to humans.

Four river otters

snaking through sea swells--

how to live in one's body.

Posted with Blogsy

September 4: On the water

Slow sail past Mark Island--

red buoy, curious seal,

harbor we don't reach.

 

Posted with Blogsy

July 30: On the boat

Monhegan ferry--

everyone stands to watch seals

which stare back at us.

Posted with Blogsy

April 13: Basking seal

While enjoying lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant on Camden harbor today, I noticed several patrons and a few of the waitstaff craning their necks to see something out the window. Apparently a seal was out on one of the floats in the inner harbor. I had to see it for myself, of course, and there it was--a big fat, patchy seal stretched out atop the float in presumed bliss in the bright sun. While I don't ascribe to the notion that animals don't possess emotions, I try not to project my own emotions onto them. However, there's no way that wasn't one relaxed and happy seal.

Seal basking on dock--
to achieve such calm I too
should sprawl in the sun.