March 27 & 28, 2024
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
They say March comes in like a lion (which it did) and goes out like a lamb (which it also did) but it was a near thing. Just before the month closed out we had a series of very windy days. Not cold: temps were in the 50s daytime, 40s at night. But it was really blowing. On Wednesday the 27th it was in the upper 20s (knots) and the next day even stronger, upper 30s and gusting well into the 40s. Southeast both days. Makes it tricky walking around, and taking pictures much less video, is marginal.
Of course the wildlife handles wind and waves easily. The ducks were even grooming as they bounced around in the swells.
Gulls soar without needing to flap much.
There were two seals hunting fish on one day and they spent more time at the surface keeping each other in sight than seals usually do, in the troughs and crests of the waves. They also periodically caught their breath between dives by assuming the “safety position”, ie pointing their nose skyward, which they also do when sleeping.
Pictures and video:
Red-breasted mergansers cresting a wave
Buffies paddling up a wave, we can see how their legs are attached at the back, like all diving ducks
Seal looking around
and taking a breath. It can be bobbing up and down in the roughest swells and not breathe in water
Buffies grooming while getting splashed
Video of wildlife in the windy Salish Sea last week:
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Temps in the low 50s with a light breeze today in the Pacific Northwest islands. Partly sunny.
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