I mentioned some time ago that I wanted to witness a seal climbing out of the water onto the ice. I wondered if they bob/hop/fly out or if they crawl out. Seals don’t have the useful front flippers that sea lions do; they can’t “walk” on their flippers.
You know what’s coming next…mystery solved!
I saw this seal climb onto that bit of ice! There was no bobbing out like a cork that’s been held underwater and no flying out like penguins. Rather, it oonched and scooched and flopped its way up and out of the water. It looked like a lot of work for a sausage with flippers.
The lagoon appeared to be covered with a layer of packed slush on this day, but that bit of ice was trapped within the slush. It held precisely one seal and seemed to be in demand. I watched it change hands twice.
As I watched, little heads popped up through the slush here and there, and then disappeared. Up and down, up and down, all over the lagoon.
A sea otter pops up here.
Oh! Another one over there.
And here are a couple more seals.
It reminded me of the carnival game, Whack-a-Mole, but I found this to be more fun.
Categories: Alaska
I won’t ask if you know how lucky you are, because I’m sure you do. But it isn’t just luck. Yo and Mike have made choices that many of us envy, but few of us would actually make for ourselves. You then take full advantage of all those choices have to offer and therefore get to experience for yourselves things others can only imagine. Thank you so much for sharing this with the rest of us! I love the vicarious experience.
Ohhh. Thanks, Becca! We feel incredibly lucky, just to have the choices we do. Sharing these things with others who find them interesting (and not everyone does, I assure you!) enhances the enjoyment for me, too.
I’ve been feeling uncomfortable with the lack of reading and stitching posts, but they’ll be back soon. I’m so glad you’re enjoying these in the meantime.
Reading Jen’s Journal here reminds me of the very first one she wrote longhand on lined paper and sent it to me and I transcribed it on the Apple IIe and printed it out on pin paper (remember pin paper?) Bristol Bay, was it? Their stitched sampler shows the cabin in the bush that was their home for all those winter months. That journal was not illustrated with photographs, but her writing skills brought their adventures to life in words. Wow! What adventures she and Mike have had!!!