That harbour seal pup

Life and death in Nature.

Have to blip the story.  Last Friday Fiona saw a seal pup on the beach..I blipped it in the extra there..her Mom’s phone pix..I only saw it after Fi came to get me and it was already back in the water…right on the beach in front, looking skinny and weak.   Every day we looked for it on the beaches, never saw or heard it. (heard one pup in the water with a Mom nearby).   We WANTED to believe it was back with Mom, perhaps even one of these we saw on the rocks across the bay on Monday.   H and I were on the beach here around 2:00 on Monday and didn’t notice anything.   The family left around 3PM and around 5PM there was a frenzy going on with so many eagles (I think 6) and turkey vultures flying around that spot on the beach right in front.   Oh Oh!  I went down with camera after dinner.. the pix I liked the best last  night was these 2 eagles vying for position, in my other journal.   the extra is 2 turkey vultures getting a turn. last night.,the carcass is by the left one. …the canoe had stopped to watch the show. This morning all the low eagle cries woke me at 5AM…before coffee before 7:00 I went down with camera but the birds scattered.   Then later we went for a row so this is a photo from the water…..

All day they’ve been taking turns.   Eagles, turkey vultures and ravens.  (the vultures and raven together, the Eagles single)  From seeing others, I think they sort of skin the animal in one piece and get the insides out.  Didn’t want to to be too gory here, they do make short work of it.   It makes a big difference to me that I didn’t watch this animal like last year when we had Libby on the beach under our wharf for 17 days and I finally gave in,  the wildlife center came, but she died anyway.   I promised I’d call them this year and I would have if I’d seen it on the beach.   But oh it would have been terrible to watch this with Libby.      I know it’s nature’s way, Mom abandoned it for some good reason, and there are plenty of seals, and the birds have to eat too.  But I’m glad Fiona had left.

The odd question is where was it and how come we didn’t see it before?  did it wash up dead with the tide?  


Hope this is the seal pup story for this year..!