Wayward Pinniped

Coastal Oregon in the spring is wet, cold, miserable, and beautiful. I loved it. I lived there once upon a time as a field technician on a seabird project, a job which did not require shoes nor a shirt. Living in feral bliss, my daily commute was a sandy and soggy walk from my tent through a driftwood labyrinth to a bird blind about 1/2 mile away. While walking to the blind one day, I unexpectedly came face-to-face with this furry harbor seal pup alone on the beach. Seal pups are often stashed onshore by their mothers while they forage just offshore, so this seal was quite safe. Legislation also protects these beached pinnipeds, so I snapped a quick shot before backing off and climbing over the driftwood berms to circumvent the cached seal on my way to the terns. By evening, it had retreated into the tides back amongst the anadromous fish.