Seal of Approval

Having hiked three miles to see seals a couple of weeks ago, only to find none, I nearly tripped over one on the beach this afternoon. Walking along with my nose in the sand, as I usually do, looking for beach glass, it wasn't until I was nearly upon what I thought was a large log, that it did something that logs don't usually do, i.e., move.

What looked like a log on the beach....

...was actually this little guy

Thinking it might be injured, since it showed no inclination to leave the area or do anything but lay there like a lox, I called the town police, who in turn called the East Hampton Marine Patrol. "We get about 150 seal calls a year," the officer who showed up told me, as he snapped pictures of the harbor seal and emailed them to the Riverhead Foundation, the organization that rescues marine animals.

Apparently the seal's cruising the neighborhood, because based on the photos, the Foundation told the officer the same seal was hanging out in front of Gurney's yesterday. "Since it doesn't appear hurt and is alert," he relayed to me, "they'll monitor it and if it's still here in the morning, determine whether or not they want to extract it."

"They've been pretty busy with the beached whales." he said as he pulled away.

Beached whales?