Tuesday 28 September 2010

Seal watching...

... and getting paid for it!

The other day during a field work trip (I do aquaculture research), we came across a seal colony on a sandbank. The boat scared them off the sandbank, but they came really close to the boat in the water - some of them were whopping huge!

This guy's head would have been bigger than mine. He was massive (I'm assuming it was a he).

There were lots of babies for some reason - I thought they're born earlier in the year.. hmm..


In the end, there was this ring of seal heads bobbing in a wide circle around us, that's the last image above. It was strange being watched like that!

This little baby stayed behind till the end; it was either really young or sick. There was another one that barely lifted its head. Don't think that one will last long.

See how close there were to our boat? They made many big splashes, presumably showing us how strong and dangerous they are.



We also saw some bald eagles, adults and juveniles, but there were far up in the sky of course - too far for the camera.


So sometimes work is pretty exciting.

5 comments:

Leslie said...

wow, what an amazing job you have to be able to do such awesome things and to see those amazing animals. lucky you!!

Lane said...

I'll say. That sounds fascinating. I'd have trouble leaving the sick baby seal tho, even though I know that's nature's way. But, sounds like you need to observe, not affect. Take care. Lane

debbi d-w said...

Envious of your job in a big way!

Crispy said...

What a great job you have!! I'm sure they were having as much fun watching you as you did watching them.

Crispy

Rebekah said...

I'm a little jealous of your job right now! It sure beats sitting behind a computer screen all day.