Tom
Administrator
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2005
- Posts
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Living on the San Joaquin River, part of the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta, we usually have seals wander upstream and reside in our bays during the winter months. We see them dive and come up with a fish, which they proceed to 'smash' on the water surface. After consuming the fish' stomach, they discard the remains, which are picked up by circling seagulls, and dive for another unsuspecting striper. All bets are off for fishing the bays when seals take up residence.
Last week, this guy (or gal) showed up behind the house. A couple of residents on adjacent bays posted on Facebook that the seal was injured and asked who they should call. The seal was apparently sunning itself and in no distress as it drifted between bays, but obviously didn't follow his/her buddies back down to San Francisco Bay.
Wayward marine life is not all that unusual in these parts. In the 80's a wayward humpback whale detoured from the annual migration to spawning grounds in Alaska, entered San Francisco Bay, and wandered upstream in the Sacramento River to the area around Rio Vista. It took a lot of cajoling by the Department of Fish & Game to eventually get the whale back to the Pacific and on its way north.
Meanwhile, the whale was something of a celebrity by visitors to Rio Vista, earning the nickname 'Humphrey". The town of Rio Vista put up a monument with an inscribed poem about Humphrey, and he received his own wiki page. There was even a nice restaurant named after Humphrey in the Antioch marina.
Last week, this guy (or gal) showed up behind the house. A couple of residents on adjacent bays posted on Facebook that the seal was injured and asked who they should call. The seal was apparently sunning itself and in no distress as it drifted between bays, but obviously didn't follow his/her buddies back down to San Francisco Bay.
Wayward marine life is not all that unusual in these parts. In the 80's a wayward humpback whale detoured from the annual migration to spawning grounds in Alaska, entered San Francisco Bay, and wandered upstream in the Sacramento River to the area around Rio Vista. It took a lot of cajoling by the Department of Fish & Game to eventually get the whale back to the Pacific and on its way north.
Meanwhile, the whale was something of a celebrity by visitors to Rio Vista, earning the nickname 'Humphrey". The town of Rio Vista put up a monument with an inscribed poem about Humphrey, and he received his own wiki page. There was even a nice restaurant named after Humphrey in the Antioch marina.
