Early this gray and foggy morning, Seal Sitters’ hotline operator Larry received a call about a seal pup on the pebbled beach at Lincoln Park. First responder Lynn made the long trek into the park and was dismayed to see the very alert pup only about 6 feet from the public walkway. She set up a tape perimeter and asked the folks who had gathered there to please be as quiet as possible and keep moving. Then, Lynn settled in to observe the pup’s behavior and body condition. Thankfully, the pup exhibited no coughing or discharge (which can be an indication of parasite and viral loads) and had decent body weight - by no means chunky, but on the other hand, not horribly thin.

Because the pup was so close to onlookers and so alert to the disturbance, access to that small section of sidewalk was eventually closed off and pedestrians and cyclists were instead funneled around the back of Colman Pool. The public was quite amicable to giving the pup, nicknamed Colman, some quiet time. Everyone was more than willing to go just a little out of their way to ensure he could rest and warm up - and not be scared back into Puget Sound.

Around 10:30, Colman made his way to the tideline and swam off. After numerous storms the past week, there was quite a bit of woody debris just offshore and the pup tried unsuccessfully to crawl up onto some floating driftwood. Finally, he succeeded in wriggling up onto a very long pole which was drifting north along the beach. As volunteers walked out of the park, they saw hitchhiker Colman, still perched on his safe vessel, sail off into the fog.

Tags: Colman