Seal Fishing in the Bay

[Tom]

Looked out the window this morning and saw this fisherman in our bay; S/he was taking in some sun before the next dive.

 

[Oldgator73]

When I lived in Alaska I used to watch them use a rock to crack open shellfish while floating on their backs.

 

[Tom]

When I lived in Alaska I used to watch them use a rock to crack open shellfish while floating on their backs.

It's amazing what creatures without opposing thumbs can do.

When they come up from a dive with a fish in their mouth, I see them rock their head back and forth violently to 'slap' the fish on the water surface, and eventually they expose flesh. They eat the center of the fish, and the seagulls get the remainder.

We're some way upriver from SF Bay, so we only see small numbers of seals. But it only takes one to clear fish from our bay.

I was thinking just yesterday of the times we've visited Monterey by boat. As you enter the smaller harbor (where the fuel docks are) you see several pods of seals floating around; One seal in each pod has a flipper up, and I'm told it acts as a rudder in the breeze to steer the pod.