Our responder found seal pup Sly nestled on the seaweed covered rocks of Elliott Bay early this morning. For the third day in a row, this alert white pup with hints of gold fur has rested for many hours. Volunteers talked to occasional walkers on this blustery and, at times, torrentially wet day.

Late in the afternoon, Sly quite reluctantly returned to the water, but only when waves at high tide rushed repeatedly over him. Then, to the delight and surprise of volunteers and onlookers, Sly swam close-in along the shore towards the small group on the bank. He lingered just a few feet offshore - staring curiously at us, as if analyzing these crazy humans who stood out in a downpour most of the day to keep him safe. This interaction was really quite unusual in our 4 years of stranding work; our lead investigator could only recall two other similar instances - one was seal pup Boo and the other, Abby the elephant seal, who swam over to her, blowing bubbles an arm’s length away offshore. We will be on the lookout for Sly tomorrow.

Tags: Sly, Boo, Abby

This afternoon, a seal pup drifting offshore caught the eye of our first responder, who enjoyed an unexpected and enchanting interlude with the pup. The curious little “weaner” would venture in near the high bank, stare intently for a bit, and then vanish in a silvery flash - only to reappear minutes later a few feet away. This inter-species game of peek a boo went on for well over half an hour and made our volunteer’s day. “Boo” has been hanging around close to shore for some days now.

Tags: Boo