On his walk yesterday Ben saw a seal on the banks of the River Dee and took these great photos and video. We sometimes see seals swimming in the Dee but this is the first time we’ve seen one sun-baking on the bank. This part of the river bank is quite busy with people walking their dogs so the seal was very brave. It seemed to want to put on a bit of a show for the audience.
What an enterprising beast, how did it jump up from the river? I’m glad it looked happy to be there.
It’s not a big leap from the river to the river bank there. It’s hard to see in the photos but it’s almost level. Seals look pretty clumsy when they move around on land but they somehow leap onto rocks and even boats so they must manage it somehow.
Fantastic to see wildlife around, isn’t it. During the first lockdown, we had deer come into the town – one would visit our garden quite regularly.
Yes, I love seeing wildlife because there’s not all that much of it in the UK. How wonderful having a deer in your garden.
What a treat 😊
Definitely!
It probably decided the grassy bank was more comfortable than a rock by the beach! More seriously, I wonder if this is one result of climate change. There seem to be increasing reports of people seeing seals, dolphins, walrus and even whales in places you wouldn’t normally expect them. Where I live in California, fishermen on the river have been complaining of sea lions stealing their catch from their boats and sometimes as they’re reeling in a fish. It’s amusing to think about, but one idiot actually shot at a sea lion with a handgun because he was fed up with the animal using his docked boat as a napping spot. Fortunately the sea lion was caught by the local humane society and treated for his wounds; the boat owner was arrested for discharging a gun in an urban area and for trying to injure a protected animal.
That makes me cross to hear about people shooting wild animals. Climate change is changing ocean currents and sea temperatures and it seems likely the animals in the sea will be affected by this. There may also be some good reasons too though. For instance, there are seals again in the Thames and part of the reason for this is because they’ve cleaned up the river such that it’s now habitable by wildlife. There are other rivers in the UK where this has happened. For instance, salmon have returned to a river in Sheffield after 200 years and the reason is because the river was previously so polluted by the steel industry. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-54165100
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