It's first thing in the morning right now for west coast bucketeers. We have intermittent showers in the islands of the PNW this morning after the big storm that went through last night. Being October there's no predicting what we'll see in a few minutes or hours ;-)
Here's a foggy day combo bucket/photodiary for our Sunday morning/afternoon.
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
One foggy day recently I sat up on this bluff by the sea. It takes a walk in the woods and then through steep rocky outcrops to reach a special spot. Across a deep channel are offshore rocks where wildlife are safe from people, but close enough to see. The channel is usually a maelstrom of swirling tidal currents, wind-driven surface waves and tangles of bull kelp strands, far too hazardous for any boat to traverse. The seals and birds know this and carry on their wild activities oblivious to people's presence nearby. On this late autumn day I was the only person out there, the fog obscuring what's usually a spectacular view.
Somehow I misread the tide table. What I thought would be a fast-ebbing tide (which brings out the fishing pinnipeds and birds) was dead calm water. Slack tide, between the ebb and flood. Even more unusual, there wasn't a breath of wind. The combination of calm water, a glassy surface and diffuse foggy light made the interface between water and air nearly invisible. Standing up on the bluff looking down, I could see right into the water as if I was in the water myself.
Then one seal came over to this side of the channel for some fishing. The seal swam by below me. I didn't realize it was underwater until it broke through the surface, exhaling in a spray of droplets.
Here's what else I saw...
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
Seals often swim upside down. This is a very handy strategy because with their eyes at the top of their head, their field of view is far greater above than below their head. Cruising along the surface on its back, this seal can get a good look right down into the water, all the while its nose is in the air, breathing. Its eyes are wide open.
Whiskers are sensing subtle water movements for the passage of prey. Sand lance (aka baitfish) are on the menu today. The seal pursues and panics this one into the air, which is gone in a gulp.
This seal makes several passes along the surface, breathing deeply. Eyes closed, nostrils wide-open. Front flippers held close to its sides since all propulsion comes from its body and back flippers (scuba divers do this too). Then it dives, piercing the surface cleanly. Eyes are now wide-open and nostrils tight-closed. Front flippers act as rudders now to change direction downward.
Seals, like all pinnipeds, are more at home in the water than on land. Supported by seawater and streamlined, they fly underwater, free in three dimensions. Powerfully graceful, sinuously maneuverable, the seal streaks by, somersaulting and turning, gliding between kelp strands and rocks, much like a bird in the air.
A gull floats nearby, hoping to steal a bit of fish. The seal passes underneath.
The seal swims right toward the cliff face where I'm sitting, checking out an underwater ledge, then reverses direction, diving back down deep.
Another slow pass at the surface, several deep breaths, and it dives again. I watch for several minutes but it's gone.
Then over on the other side of the channel, I see the seal climb out onto a rock. On land a seal looks so awkward, slow and cumbersome it's hard to reconcile this image with the beautifully graceful underwater creature that is its true nature. This seal will rest and warm up for a while before returning to the sea. Likely it's waiting, as the others are, for the tide to start running which stirs up the fish for easier catching.
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Another pinniped report from the Salish Sea. What's up in your natural neighborhood? The Bucket is open for nature observations.
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