Tag Archives: The Sea Ranch

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Kate Bloch wrote, "This afternoon, I had the extraordinary privilege of witnessing the birth of a seal pup on Tide Pool Beach.  (This is the second such birth I've been lucky enough to observe.)  It was heartwarming and inspiring, capturing a remarkable moment of nature's magic.  It's seems especially timely that the birth took place on Earth Day.I have attached five photos.  They begin with the early emerging of the amniotic sac, reveal the moment of birth, and offer glimpses into the bonding between the mother and newborn, and their first swim together."

Tide Pool Beach April 22.2024
Tide Pool Beach April.22.2024

Now that the pup is born, the mother will bond with her. They touch noses!

Tide Pool Beach Birth April 22.2024
Tide Pool Beach April 22. 2024

Harbor Seal pups are born knowing how to swim. Here the newborn pup takes her first swim with her mother on Earth Day.

Tide Pool Beach April 22.204

Thanks to Kate for allowing me to share her great series of photos with you here.

Oh my, we had a good storm arrive in the wee hours of the morning. 1.86 inches fell, much more than predicted. It was a fairly gentle rain so there are only a few wisteria blossoms down at my place! Season to date rain total is 57.68 inches. 50.00 inches is a normal wet year, so two excellent rain years in a row now. Hooray!

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It's an exciting time of year when we see the first mother/calf pairs of Gray Whales. On Monday, several pairs were seen quite close in at Black Point Beach off The Sea Ranch. A friend called Craig Tooley and he got this great photo of a calf.

You can tell this a calf born earlier this year because of his or her stubby nose/mouth area and there are no barnacles yet! Of course the size compared to his/her mom is another clue.

Karen Wilkinson is the friend who called Craig and she got some incredible photos too. I hope to post some of hers soon.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

oh, today is such a lovely day. Warm - low 70's - and no wind.

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The Doe found a nice place to shelter from a recent storm, under a Cypress tree on The Sea Ranch.

I wonder if she is under there again today, Friday, because it's been pouring rain!

Thanks to Robert for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

The rain started mid-morning this Friday. Well over 3/4 of an inch so far, and it's still raining as I type this post!

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Marilyn Green found this object washed up on a beach at The Sea Ranch.

Bob Van Syoc knew what it was. I found it eerily beautiful. Bob wrote, “Very beautiful indeed! This is the shed exoskeleton of a Barnacle.  Barnacles live inside a permanent calcareous shell attached to the bottom, but inside of the shell they also have a chitinous exoskeleton (like crabs and shrimp) as they are crustaceans. To grow they must shed their old exoskeleton and then form a new larger one. The shed exoskeletons float around and some wash ashore.”

So, inside the Barnacles' shell is an exoskeleton. And they outgrow it and have to shed it. Who knew? Lucky for Marilyn and me, Bob knew!

Thanks to Marilyn for her ability to spot small, unusual items and for allowing me to share her photo with you here. Also thanks to Bob for his expertise.

Cool this afternoon, with a breeze. We have rain coming in starting tomorrow night. Happy first full day of spring!

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A large, healthy-looking Mountain Lion has been seen twice at Pat Whelan’s home at The Sea Ranch. Pat wrote, “ Our critter cam spotted this big Mountain Lion walking through our yard this morning at 12:50 am, Feb. 22. Elegant, confident and handsome!  We live on the north end of Sea Ranch.” The Cougar paid the Whelans another visit a week or so later. Pat wrote, “Cougar sighting again in our yard on critter cam at 5:30 am.”

As I watched the videos, it sure looked like the Mountain Lion was comfortable in his or her surroundings. It’s hard to tell if it’s a male or female. This is the time of year most Mountain Lions mate. This could be a male here to mate with one or several females over the next few weeks.

Thanks to Pat for allowing me to share this screen shot with you here.

It's raining this afternoon! Good weather for watching the Academy Awards.