This adult harbor seal decided to start his morning early and not wait for the incoming tide to reach his high perch. He shuffled off his sunny spot, down past the mussel beds and into the shadows at the water’s edge.

This young seal was at the bottom of the pecking order when it came to places to perch and rest, occupying the first place to get covered by the sea as the tide rolled in. This particular wave, though, didn’t dislodge the little one and it was able to hold its position until the rock was submerged.

When I was growing up we had our own bottom rung: the dreaded middle seat in the station wagon, the one with the big transmission hump in the floor where your legs should have been.

The young seal displays fine form as it shows how to let the waves wash right over you, with rings of water rolling past its belly.

I’m not a morning person so I was pretty impressed with myself when I woke up early enough to be at Yaquina Head at sunrise. When I got down to the beach, though, some of the harbor seals were already out swimming around in the surf, making my early rising not quite so impressive. Because of the high cliffs, the rising sun hadn’t yet lit up the waters where this seal was swimming.