[Tweeters] Seahurst COLO and HARD Persist, Interesting Sea Lion..

[Tom Benedict via Tweeters]

The winter resident Harlequin Ducks and at least 7 Common Loons were present at the north end of Seahurst Park beach this afternoon. No Barrow’s Goldeneye, but about 10 Common Goldeneye, mostly males, were present, along with a small scattering of Surf Scoters, Horned Grebe, Buffleheads and a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers rounded things out.

An enormous California? Sea Lion was floating belly up about 100 meters from shore. A Harbor Seal showed up for comparison, and the sea lion was about 5 times its size. Every minute or so its head would pop up to take a breath, then back underwater. I've seen them stick their flippers into the air while floating, but this one was flippers under water and belly in the air. I thought this was peculiar behavior. Was it sleeping/napping? We have plenty of sea lions in this part of the Sound (we frequently hear them barking), but I’ve never seen one like this all by itself. It looked like a smooth rounded log. It floated around like this for about 45 minutes then eventually departed.

Tom Benedict
Seahurst, WA