Good morning Boolie!

An adult harbor seal lets out a big yawn on an early morning in March 2005. He had a fairly choice perch, off by himself but elevated above many of the other rocks. He was able to sun himself longer than the younger seals several feet below him who had to yield their spots to the incoming tide.

After watching me from closer in, this harbor seal popped up further off in the gentle waves before finally swimming out of sight.

This young seal was swimming in the shallow waters at my favorite place to watch seals on the Oregon Coast, Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in Newport, Oregon. The seals swim in close to shore as they frolic in the surf, with their curious nature they’ll watch you as you watch them. It’s a difficult place to shoot on a sunny evening, with the setting sun before you, so on this day I arrived at sunrise.

These pictures were taken moments apart, shortly after the sun first rose above the high cliff walls, most of the other areas around the beach were still in shadow. Seals are mammals of course and have to surface to breathe. In the first picture you can see the seal’s nostrils flared open as it breathes in, in the second they’ve closed down as it prepares to dive back under the water.

Which it did, right after I took the picture.

I often like to photograph harbor seals at Yaquina Head in the warm hues of the early morning light, but on this day nature gave me a nearly monochrome look that I like as well. It may look like a black-and-white image but it is not, although I may yet play around with a B&W conversion to see which I prefer.