Harbor buddies

I know they look small, but there are a lot there.  Also, I took this a while ago, when there was still ice in the harbor.

During the winter, when most of the boats are gone, several harbor seals haul out on the docks of the harbor we live in.  They are skittish and tend to dive into the water when people walk by, but I managed to get a shot of them from above.  On this day I counted 42 of them.  They make super creepy noises at night, both above and below the surface of the water (hydrophone).  They are fairly heavy for the aging wooden floats, but they certainly don’t do the damage that California sea lions do to the docks in Oregon.  Mostly these guys just swim around and look cute.  I have gotten to watch them fish several times, and it is super cool.  They swim in a figure eight or two, then roll over so their stomach is facing the sky and force the bait ball closer to the surface, where they take a big bite.  It is really neat to see.  The harbor seals are graceful in the water, whereas on land they move around like giant sausages, always ready to slide into the water at the slightest hint of danger.  I am happy that I get to see them every morning as I head to work.

Closer, so you can see their little sausage bodies.  Seals are much less terrifying than sea lions, especially from a kayak.

We had a busy week.  On Tuesday we went to see a show where live actors read the parts for a graphic novel that was projected onto a giant screen (http://theintergalacticnemesis.com/).  They also had a piano with someone improvising background music, and my favorite, an awesome sound effects table with all sorts of toys.  It was quite entertaining. 

On Thursday we went to a play that was based on interviews done with community members about homelessness in Juneau.  I was worried that it was going to sound contrived, but it was great.  It was well-written and well-acted, and very important for people to see.  I heard that it was sold out every night, so hundreds of people did get to see it.  I hope it sparks some good community action.

On Friday night we went to the first event of the season for the local sailing club that we are members of.  It was a chance to have dinner and drinks with fellow sailors and to start getting geared up for the next season.  We are already signed up to crew a race this summer!  I hope we get many more opportunities to practice sailing.

On Saturday we went to a friends house for dinner and ended up hanging out and talking until almost midnight.  On Sunday we went to movie night with the theater people and ate waffles and watched The Knights of Badassdom.  It was a good(ish) campy movie.

That is a lot of off-boat socializing for us.  It was fun, so hopefully we can keep it up.

I hope you all (hahaha) had exciting weeks as well.