A harbor seal weaner came ashore three different times today. At 2:15 pm, Hotline Operator Larry received a report of a seal at Lincoln Park, south of Colman pool, on the beach “across from poison oak” sign. The location was exactly on point. First Responder Robin arrived just in time to see the pup crawl toward the water, rest a minute or so and swim off. No one was around, except for a fisherman who waded out into the water about 25 yards to the north. His presence might have spooked the seal.

After waiting about 20 minutes and checking the beach north and south, there was still no sign of the seal. Robin gathered the stakes and signboards and made the long trek back up the hill from the beach to the south parking lot. Just as she had packed up and was getting in the car, Larry called again. The weaner seal was back, of course, now directly across from pool. This time, Robin ditched the stakes and mallet and just grabbed the signboards and walked back down the trail.

There was a handful of people standing quietly on the sidewalk, watching the pup only about 20 yards away at the tideline. The weaner, estimated to be 4-6 months old, turned and went back into the Sound about 1/2 an hour later. Once again, Robin waited another 20 minutes or so and scoured the nearby shoreline, but turned up nothing. Just as she started to leave, someone further down the path to the north caught her attention and signaled that the pup was back onshore in yet another spot.

Once again, the seal stuck around only about 30 minutes before swimming off, literally into the sunset. It was quite dusky by then. A nice woman from Romania and Robin hung out together, chatting and waiting to see if the little rascal would return. As darkness fell and with no silvery seal in sight, they walked together out of the park.