This picture was taken a week ago.
It is not typical that seals will beach themselves unless they are sick or in some physical distress. This seal appeared to be young and from what I saw he didn’t seem injured. A few dogs were going crazy barking at him and he barked back quite loudly, letting them know he didn’t want them any closer. I snapped a few shots from a distance and walked away. Earlier in my walk I came upon a sea lion carcass and I had called it in to the Lifeguard station to let them know it where it was lying on the beach. On my walk back, I ran into a lifeguard driving on the beach, he stopped and we spoke for a few minutes. I told him I had just seen this young seal and he proceeded to tell me that there had been many seals, sea lions, and pelicans dying from natural toxins being released from seasonal algae blooms. The neurotoxins produce domoic acid that are eaten by small fish and mussels which are then eaten by the pelicans, seals and sea lions and unfortunately, many have died.
Sad to say, a few days ago I saw this same young seal lying on the beach, dead. I couldn’t bring myself to take his picture, I felt badly. I was thankful I had seen him alive and barking. Hope this doesn’t bum you out, I guess it’s just life.
