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.
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October 13, 2019
Salish Sea, PacificNorthwest
Harbor seals are usually loners at sea. They will haul out at close quarters on rocks and islands but once out fishing, each goes their own way. Usually. On this day there were at least four in this bay. It was hard to tell because they were diving most of the time, as they do, chasing down fish, only surfacing to take a breath and occasionally get a look at what’s going on elsewhere. But I could tell there were two pretty far out from shore, and two nearer. One in particular was right below the bluff where I stood.
By the shape of its face I can tell it’s a youngster, likely born this summer, weaned in August. Every seal has a distinctive unique pattern of markings that persists through annual molts, so if I see this individual again I’ll know it’s the same WhiteEars.
WhiteEars was searching for fish using the upside down method.
Seals’ eyes are on the “top” of their head. An easy way to both see underwater and breathe air at the same time is to swim around on your back. For a being who lives in three dimensions, the bias for being “upright” is fairly meaningless, beyond knowing where air is. Land-bound creatures like us need to keep our “feet on the ground”, a limitation seals relate to only when hauled out.
Once a seal catches sight of likely looking prey, it will dive down after it, using its whiskers to zero in on it. Vision isn’t useful to seals except in shallow or clear water.
Found something —
At a certain point I saw another seal near this youngster.
They circled each other for a while. When they got close to the bluff I could see by comparing them that the other seal was an adult: larger overall and with a flatter face profile. Might this be WhiteEars’ mom?
Mother seals leave their youngsters once weaned, six weeks after their birth, leaving them to learn to forage on their own. They have cared for them 24/7 and taught them about the world intensively during those six weeks. Pups double in size by weaning time, but then they are sent off to fend for themselves, usually losing a lot of body mass before figuring out how to feed themselves proficiently. The survival rate for pups is about 50% in their first year. Often “weaners” will hang out together in a cohort for their first year.
Perhaps this adult is mom coming by to check on WhiteEars, maybe even helping out in some way?
They swam off along the bay’s shoreline, and out of my view. A brief sweet glimpse of their life, and a mystery.
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Stormy today in the PNW islands, intermittent rain. Blustery, with very strong wind out of the southeast. Temps in 50s.
What’s up in nature in your area today?
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