Seals?

craziness...

 

... Hahaha...poor guys.

 

Was surfing at Blacks Beach while visiting family last week. Water was crystal clear and glassy. A seal or sea lion the size of a Buick swam right under me. Scared me so much that the next thing I knew I was standing on the beach still paddling... well not really... but I did pull my legs and arms up outta the water like a pansy until I knew what it was. About 15 minutes later a whale breached about 100yds in front of me and started rolling around. It didn't help that I was pretty much out alone. No one else within about 200 yds or so of me. Was enough to spook me, but the waves were fun so there was no way I was getting out. I think I kinda like our murky water out here... ignorance is bliss.

 

Seals in OCMD

A seal popped up right next to me last winter while I was surfing in OCMD. Definitely didn't expect to see one there. If that ever happens again I will probably give it a wide berth..ha.

Has anyone else seen them around OC?

 

yea... i had a harbor seal pop up next to me about 4-5 weeks ago, gave me a funny look and vanished in about 1/2 a second. I think were right on the southern end of their range.

 

Seems to me there was a report of a large sea lion attacking a surfer somewhere along the Pacific Northwest (Oregon?) coast a year or two ago. Not unheard of...

Here's a pic of a Harbor seal resting on the beach near the state line on Assateague last March... they're out there..

 

seals dont bother me. but i remember during thanksgiving that friday i was surfing in the afternoon and these dolphins were out in the lineup and i was like 2 ft from one so it was kind of cool cause if i reached out i could have grabed the dolphin. but then the dolphin like disapeared in the inside and i never saw them again.

 

I havent seen seals but I chased a group of dolphins a couple of times just because, I wasnt antagonizing them or anything, i think they were quite curious.

I saw a turtle once, popped his head up for 2 seconds, looked around and then disappeared - kinda weird.

One day I saw a couple of birds, not gulls, those ones that swoop around and have a high pitched call, they were fighting over a fish, swooped down towards my friend and I and dropped the fish - it nearly hit my friend in the face and splashed him.

We were just cracking up and laughing for like 5 minutes about it hahaha

 

Man, dolphins are no big deal, i see some pretty much everytime I surf. Sometimes there will be like a whole pod of dolphins riding on a set wave, coming right for me. Ill duck dive, thinking that i am going to get hit by a dolphin. Then i pop out the back, no dolphins hit me, they just glide right on past me. This has happened a few times.

Ive also had a dolphin splash me with its fins. It was swimming around out there all session, and it was the summer, so i just kept on diving down and making dolphin noises, hahahaha. But ya, so the dolphin surfaces right next to me, like all propped sideways out of the water, looks me directly in the eye, then just starts splashing the hell outta me with its like arm fin, then it just smiled and dipped out. And also ive seen a couple dolphins do flips outta the water in the wild, with apparently is pretty rare.

And another time, i was out when i was really big and choppy, and there were 2 humpback whales swimming around in the lineup. It was pretty damn scary, hahaha, i just kept thinking the whale would like surface with me on its back. How awsome would that be, just sitting there on your board chillen, then all the sudden you start to rise out of the water on the back of a whale!!!! wonder if thats ever happened to anyone before?

 

"BABY, i compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grave"

Seal's at it again

 

late last winter i encountered a seal at 41st street in oc. i was trying to give him a wide berth, but he was just as interested in me as i was in him and he kept following me. it was kinda cool and kinda creepy at the same time. let's face it, he swims better than me and he has sharper teeth. rangers at assateague said that they come ashore there and hang out for a few days during their migrations.

 

I read this forum yesterday and until today i had never seen a seal in the lineup but sure enough off the 18th street jetty down at belmar one popped up. I thought my mind was making it up because i read this forum but two other guys off the jetty confirmed that it was a seal. Its funny how you see things after they are brought to your attention.

 

I am so tired of aquatic life. Me and two friends were down surfing frisco pier thursday morning and had a pretty good size shark come right at us. Luckily we were all about ready for breakfast anyway, but that definitely expedited our paddle in. My first up close shark encounter and i'm not real stoke on it.

 

I dont think anyone is too stoked to see sharks. how big was it?

 

One thing for sure. . .

. . . the more seals you see, the more sharks will be around licking their chops. The only freak-out for me is when you're paddling and on one particular stroke, you touch something you know is bigger than just your average oversized Rockfish. And it feels alive.

What would you do? Paddle more, paddle less, not paddle at all? Choices, choices.

 

Yea man when sh!t brushes up against you leg or your hand hits something that you know thats not you or your board....OH MAN!!! That stuff has given me the jibbies once or twice

 

wow... i was down at obx this week surfing s turns and i wanted to head down to frisco thursday morning too but we ended up sleeping past our alarm from exhaustion. funny thing is is that the one thing i was fearing for being so far south for the first time was sharks. i would've **** my wetsuit and frenzied back to shore

 

Could you tell what type it was? Was it a hammerhead? I don't think hammerheads attack people but if it were any other, that would definitely psych me out too. I know they are out there and probably close by, but out of sight is out of mind.

 

I couldn't tell exactly how big it was, but it was big enough to warrant a quick scramble to the beach. I couldn't tell what kind it was, but my buddies saw it jump so I don't think it was a hammerhead. I'm not up on my shark knowledge though.