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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Harbor Seals, Point Lobos

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Harbor Seals, Point Lobos - California harbor seals interacting on a haul-out rock at the Point Lobos State Reserve.
California harbor seals interacting on a haul-out rock at the Point Lobos State Reserve.

Harbor Seals, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. July 16, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

California harbor seals interacting on a haul-out rock at the Point Lobos State Reserve.

The harbor seals are found in many areas of the California cost and elsewhere. These were lounging about on a haul-out rock at the Point Lobos State Reserve just south of Carmel and at the northern end of the Big Sur coastline. I have been going to Point Lobos for many years, and this particular rock is one I usually check out since it is quite close to the shoreline and there are often harbor seals about. Indeed, on this day there were perhaps a dozen of the critters on this rock, and more were hanging around nearby.

On one hand, it seems like a pretty lazy life they lead, especially on a calm summer day like this one. Haul out of the water and lounge about on rocks for hours. If they get hungry, the water is only a few feet away. But I suspect that the reality is much different. I have also gone to see them in the winter when the surf here can be astonishingly wild, and the ocean must be a very dangerous place. As I watched this group – which is sometimes an experience close to watching paint dry – eventually the middle seal decided to turn around and face the smaller one to the left. As it did so it arched its body to pivot around and the smaller one reached out with a flipper, suggesting a sort of friendly pat to the those with anthropomorphic tendencies.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Three Harbor Seals

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Three Harbor Seals
Three Harbor Seals

Three Harbor Seals. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. April 26, 2009. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three harbor seals resting on a rock at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

This is a photograph from a couple years back, made on one of my frequent visits to Point Lobos. If I recall correctly, there were two reasons that I focuses on these creatures on this visit: there were lots of them, and the light was less than wonderful for landscape/seascape photography!

During certain times of the year, it isn’t hard at all to find these large seals near the shoreline at Point Lobos and in many other locations along the coast. At Point Lobos you can often see them swimming around the kelp beds, with their large heads occasionally poking up from the water. They also spend time on some the half-submerged rocks near the shoreline (as this group is doing) or even hauled out on some of the more secluded beaches and coves.

When I first started photographing them seriously I was surprised to find that they pay attention to humans – sometimes a lot of attention. Sometimes it seems that they are regarding me as carefully as I am watching them! Note that two of the seals are staring straight up at my position in this photograph. This habit gives them the appearance of being very attentive creatures and suggests, to me at least, a degree of intelligence and self-possession.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.