the best thing about my job is the location. i sit at a desk by a window that looks straight out on to the whanganui river and i love to see the changing lights, the moving moods, the shifting tides of our river. there's so much fauna to be seen, too - mostly birds but some times fish. and more recently, an unusual and furry visitor in the form of a seal.
this wee fellow is a new zealand fur seal pup [arctocephalus fosteri], known to maori as kekeno. according to the department of conservation ranger i spoke to, the pup is about six months old and is in the process of being weaned. weaning seals are common at this time of year on the coastline as they attempt to establish some independence; but seals in rivers are less common.
"damn pesky shit of a seal," grumbled dan the ranger. "at this age they're like teenagers let out on their own - they just get in to trouble."
the seal's been hanging out in whanganui for a month and in that time dan has had to shepherd him off the main road to castlecliff, keep dogs away from him [why do dogs and seals naturally hate each other?], and disentangle a net from his head, which nearly earned dan a bite to the hand.
the seal's been hanging out in whanganui for a month and in that time dan has had to shepherd him off the main road to castlecliff, keep dogs away from him [why do dogs and seals naturally hate each other?], and disentangle a net from his head, which nearly earned dan a bite to the hand.
that may be so but the seal we see playing in the river is a charming, chilled little dude. even the most grumpy of our newsroom hacks is delighted by his antics. we see him slowly slipping past on the outgoing tide, rolling over and over in the water, diving under and popping his nose up, or lying on his back with a dead fish on his belly, keeping himself afloat by the flutter of his flippers.
i love all the people standing on the boardwalk - pointing, photographing or just standing to watch, smiles on their faces. meanwhile, the seal is just getting on with his day, unaware or unconcerned that he has a delighted audience just a few metres away.
[the photo above is how we often see our little kekeno, playing with his breakfast - in this case, a patiki, or flounder - before he eats it. it's not a great picture but he is really hard to photograph!]
4 comments:
nice and refreshing for me today this - in my office we get a rather dim view of some trees and thats it - so hearing your view has cheered me up
A sweet post - thanks! The little guy reminds me of the otters we would see in the Puget Sound of Washington State. I can't help but smile ;-0
hungry pixies, we are certainly very lucky to have such a wonderful view. i never take it for granted. mind you, your view of trees is surely better than nothing.
barbara, several people have commented on the similarity between this kekeno and an otter. i'm guessing the seal is bigger - he certainly will be once he's full grown. i'm glad you enjoyed the post!
How cute!!! That is wonderful that you can watch him at work :) And that the ranger is keeping him out of trouble!
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