Mornin’ (again),
From a distance it looked like a large piece of driftwood washed up on pristine South Beach at Pt. Reyes National Seashore. Another of these enormous pieces of wood that I had photographed just a year ago when I was here still remained in the spot the ocean’s tide had chosen as its resting place. Yet this one’s curved shaped made me curious, and I left my husband, Brian Altman, behind to take pictures of the pounding surf to wander closer and investigate.
Suddenly, the right side of it moved – an inhale and an exhale – it was a living creature. Closer still I ventured and when it heaved its massive head off the sand and opened its enormous and alert eyes in my direction I stopped cold. There was a reddish wound on the middle of its back, sand and fly-encrusted, multiple war scars down its backside and along its tail. This sea creature had survived many wars, but perhaps not this time, I thought, as it seemed to be ill and dying. There was an odd “S” shape down by his tail, a brand…he was a tracked animal.
I walked around it and noticed a swath of mammal track up from water’s edge, suggesting that perhaps it hadn’t been involuntarily deposited upon the beach by the force of the water, but rather had chosen its resting place instead. I walked up to it, inhale, exhale, the head lifting and laying back down again, its huge brown eyes opening and closing, opening and closing, taking me in with every blink.
I couldn’t take a picture of a dying animal, it felt too strange to me. There were only a handful of people on the beach and I turned to see if anyone else had noticed. No one seemed to, or else this was such a common occurrence no one cared. Or perhaps death is more acceptable and normal to more frequent beach goers than I am. I had seen dead beached whales on the Eastern seashore, but I had never seen a not-dead-yet ocean beast of this size so far up from water’s edge.
There was nothing I could do, and I turned away to rejoin my husband. Our simple peaceful morning by ocean’s side had come to a sobering end. As we slowly slogged through the sand toward our car, a park ranger clambered down the rocks onto the beach with a sign. I walked up to him and asked the fate of the wounded animal.
“Will the tide come in and wash him back out to sea?”
“He’ll get back in the water all by himself,” the ranger said. “He’s fine. They do this at this time of year. It’s breeding season. The males engage in aggressive territory and dominance battles, and this one probably hauled himself out of the water to take a break.”
“But he’s bleeding,” I protested.
“That’s normal when these males fight with one another. Don’t kid yourself. He might look like he’s in bad shape, but he’s very dangerous and aggressive and he will charge you. He can run faster than you can. But I’ll go check him out to make sure he’s not seriously injured.”
We stood there as he made a wide circle around the seal, checking him out – for some reason, the seal never lifted its head in the presence of the ranger (perhaps they were old friends?) – who came back to us and said, “He’s fine. Thanks for your concern and enjoy your day on South Beach.”
Then I read the warning not to get closer than 300 feet. I didn’t want to think about what might have happened had my sentimentality and ignorance led me to actually stoop down and have a face-to-face chat with this giant fellow.
Moral of the story: Boys Will Be Boys!
Alternative Moral of the Story: Sometimes Girls aren’t So Smart When in the Presence of Over-Sexed Boys.
Enjoy your own day, wherever you are, and thanks for reading.
Giselle
Pictures of the seal, courtesy of Brian Altman. I took the picture of the Seal Warning myself.
January 7, 2013 at 6:21 pm
Glad everyone is ok. Apparently, ‘Let resting seals lie’
January 7, 2013 at 6:36 pm
Happy New Year Cara Evangelista. You’ve told me that this is your favorite place in the whole world, No? I think on my post last year, or did I make that up? Thank you so much, .
Brian Fields…makes me wonder, should I have a THIRD Moral: Let resting Boys lie? Hmmmm?
January 7, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Greetings Ms. Menacy Betty Menace. Long time, no see one another! HNY!
January 7, 2013 at 6:49 pm
Yeah, Matthew Graybosch…it isn’t so hard being a male homosapien after all. And if he doesn’t succeed in picking up a girl at the bar at the end of the day, he can always soothe his ego with a bear. This giant fellow was left to go to work for his dinner on top of everything else.
January 7, 2013 at 6:58 pm
Denise Baxter Yoder I LOVE your words…borrowing with permission and accrediting you if I use, please???
January 7, 2013 at 7:23 pm
Good story.
January 7, 2013 at 7:26 pm
Thanks Denise Baxter Yoder. Most of the time my Danger, Danger, Will Robinson, Danger warning system is in full operating mode. Sometimes it isn’t even sending out a slight signal. Those are the scary times. As I posted yesterday, a man and his wife were walking their dog on this same beach on New Year’s Day and were washed out to sea. The wife and dog survived, but the man did not.
He woke up one last time to the glory of this place and had no idea what was awaiting him at water’s edge…
Good morning Marie Hélène Visconti!
January 7, 2013 at 7:35 pm
Denise Baxter Yoder I am laughing and crying at the same time. How many magnificent “boys” have looked “mournfully” at an unsuspecting girl…and then all is lost…
It was a lesson to me, too. Felt like a fool. ‘Twasn’t my day to bite the sand it appears. I’m glad you enjoyed it and so appreciate your comments.
January 7, 2013 at 9:48 pm
Giselle Minoli, all this adventure/excitement and this is just day 1 of R&R.
It’s always more scary thinking about what could have been as opposed to what actually happened. Did you feel scared or wonder or curiousity?
Glad Mr. Seal accepted your approach as you intended and not a threat or annoyance.
Look forward to your encounters with your visit with the whales.
January 8, 2013 at 12:58 am
Hi, dawn ahukanna we just returned from Chimney Rock, an elephant seal outpost. Hordes of them beached and barking. Our friend from yesterday was clearly a rogue outlier. Not at all surprised I found him.
And to answer your question, No…I was not scared in the slightest. I grew up with animals and have never been afraid of them. I would go so far as to say I have a way with them. I talk to them and they talk to me. However, this is quintessential stupidity if you ask me when applied to wild creatures that are not tame. I somehow have always believed that I won’t come to any harm. Don’t get the wrong idea – I would never approach a great white or a mountain lion and think I would have any success talking it out of eating me. So, Yes, I have to be conscious of my own hubris and yesterday was a lesson. Even with tame animals, wisdom dictates not approaching an injured beast. Frankly, I know better. Not yesterday, apparently. Lesson re-learned!
No Gray Whales in sight today. 🙁
January 8, 2013 at 6:43 am
Great story, Giselle Minoli I am glad you are safe!
January 8, 2013 at 3:37 pm
What a great story is right,G;hope you and Brian are enjoying it out there. I was so sad at the start but hope the “ranger” was being honest and the seal will be OK. Contrary to his advice (but don’t anyone else try this) I’ve gone right up to seals and petted them and have actually been diving and gone swimming amongst them.
January 8, 2013 at 4:12 pm
Morning Kim Crawford I did walk right up to him, stopping short of squatting down next to him. He was in a state which “felt” to me like distress and it really wasn’t appropriate for me to pet him, which I know you weren’t suggesting. Curious, have you been diving with seals during mating season? The mating season issue was the Ranger’s concern.
January 8, 2013 at 4:48 pm
HI there Giselle Minoli ;hope you are “relaxing” for once! Nooo..I wouldn’t have “pet” this little guy but I more than likely would have touched and examined him. You know,I probably was NOT swimming with seals during mating season and didn’t know any better;they were playful with me. WE all dive with manatees down here;they are so tame you hold “hands” with them…very cool. You are such a compassionate soul I’m sure the sight of this seal touched you as your story touched me. XO
January 8, 2013 at 4:54 pm
I was so upset Kim Crawford and Brian Altman could see it and he waited to take a picture of him until after I had turned away. Brian said, “I couldn’t take a photo of you and the seal so upset.” Because I talk out loud to myself all the time it wasn’t a stretch for me to talk to the seal, which I did, standing at a distance of about only 5 feet (295 feet closer than the warning sign. But I digress!). I do have a way with animals as I know you do, but in this case I could very well have been nominated for a Darwin Award had it gone another, less than happy direction. ‘Tis meant to be a vacation after all. Not a funeral.
Should have tagged you into this post! Should have known you’d have been interested!!!!
January 8, 2013 at 10:35 pm
Indeed a vaca not a funeral! And it’s OK,I found you!