Seal of Approval

'tis a periscope.

So cute, I think of them as Sea Dogs.

Hi who and Cal - I agree with you both! There are two kinds of seals out at this islands - cute little harbor seals, and bigger gray seals. I think this is a young gray seal. It was an amazing day kayaking among them - here were over a hundred, and everywhere we'd look there'd be 5-10 of these heads sticking up out of the water checking us out. There was one huge bull gray seal following us, getting about 5 feet behind the last kayak in a group. It was really funny paddling along hearing this heavy breathing right behind.

He is a real cutie. D

Thanks Dianne! he is, and to have twenty of these popping their periscope heads out of the water and staying there watching you is a pretty special experience.

Cool shot, and it makes a good story, too!

Mange tak nøt1wørd !!!

They are lovely and curious animals. I once had one sniffing at my snorkeling mask.

Gorgeous, how cool to get so close. They are very playful aren't they Bits?

Wow Norrel! That must have been quite an experience! The closest they usually seem to get to the kayaks is about 6 meters away, except for when they follow behind. Of course if you hear them then they plop back into the water before you can turn around, or as soon as they see the camera come out.

And marbiz - they are playful. We've learned to find them in the rolling waves, where they seem to love to ride like a stay-in-place roller-coaster. Plus, they were just soooo curious about us. It felt like we were the circus act they'd all gathered to watch.