Salish Sea, PNW
June 2017
Paddled around my local bay a couple of afternoons recently while Mr O was working on the boat. It’s finally gotten partly sunny after our unusually cold wet spring in the Pacific Northwest. It was very pleasant…..short-sleeved shirt and dawdling around, meeting up with old friends there.
It’s been many months since Friendly Seal has played with us. I’ve seen her frequently but she’s been super busy hunting. On one of the afternoons she met up with us after Mr O had gotten back in his kayak. She swam right up to me and gave me a big hug! My kayak that is. Arm (front flipper) wrapped around the side. All I could see was big claws since she was behind me as usual, but I could feel her below the kayak. No pics of that but she swam around and under our boats, being quite as sociable as before.
Seals converse non-verbally most of the time
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow.
|
Friendly Seal is all grown up now, not the playful youngster she was when we first met a few years ago, but she knows us as fellow intermittent residents in the bay, shows recognition, and once in a while takes time off from hunting to say Hai.
FS is also likely very pregnant. Harbor Seals have their babies at the end of June or early July. We saw her with her pup last year in July and August.
Most of our old friends don’t actually come up to the kayak to see me. Here are a few I found while paddling slowly along the shores of the headland.
Purple seastar, Pisaster ochraceus, tucked into a crevice. There aren’t many of these seastars, with the SSWS epidemic still killing off seastars in general along the West coast, but I’m seeing 4-5 regularly now on this stretch of headland.
BLUE SKY! With intetesting clouds. It’s been a long wet cold spring in the PNW. Feels so good, the warmth of sunshine.
Most ducks are gone for the summer. The waters are so empty. I was lucky to see a small flock of Surf Scoters, this guy flew from one group to another. Some scoters hang around through the summer.
One of my favorite Madronas along the shore. I really like its purply red base.
White streaks of quartz in bedrock cracked by tectonic action. Pretty much the only place to see bedrock geology is along the shoreline and a boat gives the best view. The streaky quartz veins are a nice complement to the bone-white twisted dead branches of an old Madrona...or maybe roots?
And then there’s the River Otters. Not exactly friendly, like FS, in fact they appear to give me a stink-eye when we meet — although I can’t really know, could as well be an otter expression I’m misinterpreting. We cross paths in the bay. I’m always happy to see Otter.
Otter giving me the once over stare before continuing its fishing.
What’s up in your natural neighborhood?
"SPOTLIGHT ON GREEN NEWS & VIEWS" IS POSTED EVERY SATURDAY AT 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME AND WEDNESDAY AT 3:30 ON THE DAILY KOS FRONT PAGE. IT'S A GREAT WAY TO CATCH UP ON DIARIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED. BE SURE TO RECOMMEND AND COMMENT IN THE DIARY. |