13: Harbor Seals

Dear Friend,

In all of your travels today, whether you’re moving from bed to couch or you’re already on a jet plane flying from here-to-a-faraway-there, we hope that your journey is enjoyable and, when you arrive at your destination, may there be time for you to rest-up before embarking on your next adventure.

All creatures need to rest. It’s not being lazy, it’s time for the body to heal, and rest is necessary for rebuilding strength and stamina to do what needs doing for survival. Do you take time to really rest? If you need to remember how to lounge, here’s a role-model for you.

Harbor Seals are most recognizable as the seals that don’t have ear flaps.

When they move on land, they flop along on their bellies.

Keeping in mind that a competitive human swimmer maxes out at 6 miles an hour and comes out of it panting and tired, while a harbor seal can swim 12 miles an hour and is an easy, graceful, playful, swimmer. Sorry, no under-water photos; Frank has stopped himself from renting scuba gear, (so far).

Harbor seals are often seen lounging on or near shore, in a group, called a ‘pod’ or ‘herd.' or by their lonesomes. Either way, harbor seals need to rest up between travel and hunting swims.

At times, they move out of the water, or, ‘haul out,’ in order to raise their body temperature. They’ll also haul out when it’s time for a pup to be born or when they just want to rest.

But, because they can hold their breath for thirty minutes, they can also nap underwater.

I found a short, informative video describing how: This Seal Sleeps Underwater

(Links to this video and another informative video on Harbor Seals follow this blog/letter).

You never know what is happening under the surface of the ocean... 

Sometimes it looks like a seal is crying. Its eyes are watery and there might even be a tear drop. Their eyes actually excrete a special mucous-coating to protect them from wind-driven debris and sun damage, and to keep them from drying out. It’s very good to know that they are not necessarily ‘sad.’

Speaking of 'not necessarily sad'… Yesterday morning, after sunrise, while Frank was somewhere along the ocean, photographing, I went for a walk. Around two miles into my walk, I passed a pickup truck that was parked on a quiet, still-sleeping, neighborhood street. As I passed the front of the truck, I heard an animal sneeze. It sounded like a cat. I stopped walking, it sneezed again. I walked back to the front of the truck and looked under, thinking I was going to see a sick cat but saw this:

A baby opossum, hunkered up next to the front tire of the truck. A blue jay was flitting about nearby, clearly upset that I’d interrupted a potential breakfast.

I called 911. (That may seem 'extreme' but I’ve learned that 911 is also the number to call for animals in distress if you aren’t sure what ‘Wildlife’ number to call). The dispatcher was very quick and helpful connecting me to live people. I didn’t just have to ‘leave a message’ somewhere. Wildlife rescue gave me a phone number and asked me to hang up and text them a picture of the opossum so that they could determine whether or not it was big enough to survive on its own. I texted them the photo and they called me back right away. The little opossum was way too small to survive on its own. They surmised that something must have happened to the mother or it must have fallen out of the mother’s pouch. I could bring it to them, or they’d be able to come pick it up in a few hours, in the meantime, did I have a box to put it in? Did I have a towel to keep it warm until they could get there to pick it up?

I shouldn’t give it water or food, just keeping it warm and safe, away from predators like crows and jays was the only thing I could do for it.

I explained that I was on foot two miles away from where I’m staying, I told them that I’d walk back as carefully as I could and was assured that the baby would be fine, that it’s used to wild-rides inside of its mother’s pouch. I was just about to wrap the little friend up in my sweatshirt when a lady came out of the nearest house, on her way to take her dog for a walk.

I told her about the opossum and she, being a fellow animal lover, immediately went back into her house and brought out a towel and a shoebox, apologized to her dog that the walk would have to wait, and gave me a ride back to where Frank and I are staying. (Thank you, Kirsten).

Kirsten named the Opossum ‘Billy’ after her late husband, a well-known photographer.

Frank and I took ‘Billy’ to the SPCA Wildlife Rescue in Monterey. They won’t actually be giving the opossum a name, but will take great care of him/her, and will release the opossum into the wild when he/she gets to be an appropriate weight. In the meantime, we were told that after the initial intake evaluation, the little opossum is an adorable, healthy baby that gets to live a new adventure. (Sorry, not sorry, Mr. Blue Jay).

Thank you for reading Tracks by the Post, we’re grateful that you’ve spent time with us today, hopefully restful time? Perhaps my writing succeeded in making you super sleepy?

We always appreciate your good thoughts in our direction, and we’d love to know how you’re doing; when you have a chance (after your nap), please write to us. We’ll reply as soon as we can.

Gently Be,

Leslie and Frank

PS: Here are a couple of links to videos about Harbor Seals:

This Seal Sleeps Underwater

More info about Harbor Seals, by Columbia Maritime Museum