Half Tide Hangout
By the time we left the dock the tide was already rising. Our dive boat was leaving the dock and taking a comfortable cruise out of Boston harbor to the Graves. The Graves is a rock outcropping on the distant edge of the Boston Harbor Islands. A light house stands 113ft/34m tall on the bulkiest part and creates a phenomenal sight to gaze upon during your surface interval between dives. Since 1972 when the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed and seals were no longer hunted for a bounty as was the case in the 19th and even 20th century, the population has increased rapidly. I remember as a child playing and exploring the coast of New England in the 90s and the only seals I saw were in the Aquarium. Now, just 52 years since we stopped hunting them, only 2-3 generations later they are at healthy numbers and growing (Gray and Harbour seals have a lifespan of 25-30 years on average, males live 20-25 years and females average at 30-35 years). Their camouflage is pretty spot on, as once we arrived at the dive site it was a good while, even after taking out my Sigma 150-600mm lens that I noticed it laying there on the rocks. Once the divers got in the water and all was taken care of I climbed up and out, onto the bow of our dive boat “Keep-ah” and snapped away. At one point just by luck, as I had an iron finger on my shutter button, firing away, a lone oyster catcher flew by creating an incredible background subject and introducing a little movement and colour into the images. I waited and watched this little seal nugget (while scanning the water to watch the divers’ bubbles, of course) for the entire dive until my divers returned to the boat and I packed it in. It wasn’t until I got back home then days later when I had time to edit the photos that I noticed in a handful of the photos, there was a duck hanging out, all cozy next to the seal pup’s nose. It blended into the seaweed so well, it was hard to spot. There were other ducks nearby, however this one was clearly “personally” close to the seal, well within the personal space bubble which is usually much greater for animals. If you look closely the seal has a small cut on his snout, likely from a quarrel with another seal. I can’t help but think that there’s some sort of inter species bonding or even friendship going on here and I like having caught it on camera. I now also can’t help but think I was a victim of ”Disney movie thought poisoning” as a kid…..
-Capt. Greg
