TRICKSTER MIRACLE CHANGES THINGS UP
Early this morning, First Responder Robin and volunteer John watched as harbor seal weaner Miracle attempted to haul out onto one of her favorite rocks below Harbor Avenue. In anticipation of her arrival, a tape perimeter was already in place. The tide was quite high this morning and Miracle hadn't exactly timed things right. Her third try was at 7:43 and she stayed on the rock for a mere minute or so before water swept over her and she slipped back into the Bay.

Robin and John stood by patiently, knowing she would undoubtedly return when the tide receded a bit. Robin happened to look to her left and noticed a wet weaner perched on a sunny flat rock, just out of the water about 50 yards or so to the north (photo above). First Responder Lynn had just driven down to see what was up. The three of us were all concerned that this new haul-out was not a good one, only feet below the sidewalk. It would be challenging for Seal Sitters to keep people back and allow Miracle to safely rest, since we could only close off a few feet of what would be a busy walkway on this sunny, but windy, Saturday. A serious concern was that within hours she would be high above the rocky shore as the tide receded - and vulnerable to a fall and injury if disturbed.

We hoped Miracle might abandon this new post and return to her usual, safer and quieter hangout. Instead, she settled in for a nap, despite the sidewalk and street commotion - and we began stretching yellow tape between informational signs and cones.

Scheduler Kelsey checked the doodle calendar and began making calls to volunteers. Huge thanks to reliable volunteers Melinda J, Buzz, David D, Dori, Jay, Karen T, Libby, Kelsey and Buzz who helped keep people moving along the sidewalk. First Responders David and Lynn both put in long hours again today, assisting Robin with crowd control on their day “off”.

CAR ALARM AND NOISE ACTIVITY CREATES DANGER FOR MIRACLE
As the tide receded, Miracle was resting high above the craggy beach and waterline (photo below). Volunteers did their best to manage crowd noise and disturbance directly above the sleeping Miracle, but one problem arose that we couldn't anticipate. The alarm of a car that was parked within 30 feet began blaring. Miracle looked up, but miraculously settled in for another snooze. The alarm finally stopped.

As more and more people biked, skateboarded and walked by and stopped to take photos and chat among themselves, Miracle became increasingly skittish to all the activity. But still, she managed to get some rest.

Then, early afternoon the alarm blasted again - at the exact same time, a low-flying military jet roared overhead. That was just too much for Miracle. She awoke in a panic and frantically tried to figure out how to get off her high, barnacle-encrusted perch and escape into Elliott Bay. Crawling off her rock, she promptly fell - out of sight.

Finally, we could see Miracle’s nose between the huge, jagged rocks at sea level. She didn't move. Was she injured or wedged in? After about half an hour of no movement and with the tide close to reaching her, we thought we'd better investigate for fear she might drown. Robin carefully crept down the rocky wall to get a peek, ready in case she had to attempt a rescue.

Thankfully, Miracle wriggled out of her hole upon seeing Robin. She looked a tad bit bloodied (probably barnacle scrapes), but swam off. Volunteers Kelsey and Dana arrived just after Miracle vanished, but helped search the surrounding shoreline to no avail. We're hoping between the disturbances, falling off the rock and Robin's looming presence, that Miracle will go back to her much safer haul-out tomorrow! And we hope, too, that she didn't suffer any significant injury from the fall.

Tags: Miracle