I think the ocean is awesome, and I know so little about the creatures that live there, especially away from shore. Unfortunately, as I discovered on a whale-watching trip a few years ago, I get quite seasick if I actually go out on the open water. So when I learned that there's a jetty at the mouth of Humboldt Bay -- a short drive from our house -- where one can walk nearly half a mile out onto the ocean, I was intrigued. Open water with ocean birds, mammals, and waves, but no rocking floor to try to stand on? Yes please!
On Friday afternoon, at low tide (apparently this place gets dangerous when the tide is high), Paul and I took a trip out to the north jetty at the Samoa Dunes Recreation Area, and it was indeed awesome. I don't often get to see waves from this perspective:
And surfers are downright novel for me; there were several people out enjoying the waves on Friday:
Yes, the ocean is intense:
I'm learning that Common Murres are quite, well, common at the shores around here, and a few of these birds were swimming in the water close to the jetty. This is such a handsome bird up close; I love that line behind its eye, and those big paddling feet and sleek pointed wings (so useful for moving underwater):
This murre had just popped up from a dive in this next picture, and it's still got its protective nictitating membrane covering its eyes:
An Osprey was hunting over the fog-shrouded waves:
It made some impressive dives, although I didn't see it actually catch anything:
Brown Pelicans were cruising around; these birds are downright massive, especially compared to the gulls that kept trailing them hoping for fish:
A few ocean mammals showed up, too! This Harbor Seal seemed to be watching us for a bit:
And a few Harbor Porpoises went by!
I can't believe I live in a place where I can see marine mammals. The birds and scenery are awesome, too, of course, but whenever I'm near open ocean I'll certainly be watching the waves for fins and faces. There's so much to see around here, and I'm still just getting started!
So I was at Hammonasset Beach State Park on Wednesday, and I'd just gotten to hang out with crossbills, which was awesome. But there was still a lot of the park left to explore! I headed off to the southernmost end of the park, Meigs Point, where the shoreline is littered with huge rocks (courtesy of ancient glaciers) and the land juts out into the Long Island Sound.
Several small birds showed up along the path, including this very puffy Northern Mockingbird (with its surprisingly yellow-soled feet):
And about a dozen Horned Larks huddled among the smaller rocks (hello, funny bird faces!):
Waaay out at the end of the point, stretched out on some rocks still mostly covered by the tide, was the second creature I came to Hammonasset hoping to see: Seals!
It really just never occurred to me that there might be seals in Connecticut, but indeed, here they are! This is the same species of seal, even -- Harbor Seals -- that we got to see up close all the way on the other side of the continent, in San Diego, almost a year ago. I love how comfortable these big blubbery creatures look on their rocks. :)
Finally, there were some really weird-looking birds in these waters. Meet the Surf Scoter, a type of sea duck:
OK, what in the world is going on with your bill, Mr. Duck? The female Surf Scoters look downright normal, but wow, the males are just super bizarre! (I love you, weird bird!)
The scoters looked perhaps even weirder when they took flight, with the males showing off their fancy maroon clown feet:
And there was another type of scoter out on the water, too -- a lone male White-winged Scoter -- and this duck was just as strange-looking (and un-duck-like) as the others, but in totally different ways:
Between the seals, alien ducks, and crossbills, Hammonasset certainly was exciting! It's always great to get to explore a new place and see new things. :)
While the weather here in Connecticut got increasingly cold and wintry this past weekend (with six inches of new snow!), Paul and I took a trip across the country, all the way to San Diego. Neither of us had been there before, and I hadn't been to California for years, so it was quite the change of environment for us. We were technically there for a wedding, but we made sure to work in plenty of extra time to wander around and explore... and to look for animals, of course!
Our first scheduled activity, in fact, was an off-shore whale watch. What better way to start exploring a new place than to look for the giant creatures that live in its oceans? (Well, perhaps an activity that doesn't cause seasickness, which, it has now been confirmed, is definitely a problem for me! But, oh well.) And we did see whales. At least four big Gray Whales crossed our path on their southward migration. Mostly, we saw the mist shooting up from the whales' blowholes as they skimmed the surface to breathe:
And every few minutes, we'd get a glimpse of a fluke as the whales made a dive:
One of the whales even came close enough to show off its barnacle-covered back as it skimmed the water's surface:
I still can't really believe that such huge creatures exist under the water, and it was hard to get a real sense of their size from the little glimpses that they gave us. But really, it was just extraordinarily cool to be in their presence. Seasickness notwithstanding, it was a great little trip. We didn't get to see any dolphins, which are apparently very common in these waters, but we were greeted by a sunning California Sea Lion on our way back into the harbor:
(Sadly, it looks like this Sea Lion has some fishing line stuck around its neck. I hope the poor fellow will be OK...)
During the rest of our stay, we spent a lot of time wandering along the coastline near our hotel in La Jolla, which is a community in the northern part of San Diego. The shore here was just gorgeous, alternating between dramatic cliffs and sandy beaches, and with animals everywhere. There were tons of birds (look for more on those in a future post), but the creature that really got the two of us excited was another mammal. The small protected beach in this next picture is called Children's Pool, and it just happens to be a daily haven for a large group of Harbor Seals:
Harbor Seals are kind of amazing, in that they somehow manage to walk the line between ridiculously funny-looking and mind-meltingly adorable. I think they look more sleek than ungainly when they first emerge from the water:
And they get super fluffy when they've dried off in the sun, showing off beautiful speckled fur:
But even with all that fur and those fantastically cute faces, I can't help seeing the seals as big awkward blobs rolling around on the sand, especially when they move! I took a couple videos of beach action, so you can see what I mean:
I keep thinking they don't look like seals so much as caterpillars, or slugs, when they move. And yet, there's some sort of grace to their movements, even on land:
Even from behind the ropes that were put up to keep people and seals separate, we felt like we were really hanging out with the seals, and it was awesome. And blubber or no, the life of a seal sure looks good from this angle!
These Harbor Seals were definitely used to people hanging around, which meant that we could walk around just a few yards from them without disturbing them. There was another mammal inhabiting the cliffs of La Jolla that showed a similar lack of concern for people as well, not unlike some of its eastern urban relatives that I've encountered. Squirrel!
These California Ground Squirrels were all over the place, content to keep foraging as we stared and pointed at them, or, sometimes, to stare right back:
I don't know what this succulent ground cover is, but it must be delicious to a squirrel:
[Edit: The plant is probably either Ice Plant or Sea Fig, both of which are introduced and invasive in California. Thanks for the info, Chris!]
Nom!
We saw many other creatures on our trip, and I've got more cool things to share, so watch for another post (or maybe two?) in the near future!
