They are out there... Closer than you think!

So.. The great thing about walking on the beach is how much things change everyday. New sand, new stones, new logs, no sand, huge waves, driftwood, baby seals, etcetera, etcetera.. Warning. This is my second post about shark attacks so if you are squeamish or a non believer you might want to skip it. This is all speculation on my part anyway but, that has never stopped me before.

Yesterday during my daily morning walk with Riley we almost immediately came across a baby seal. Actually a baby sea lion. You can tell by the ears, and the fact that they speak. This one was saying "get this stupid, though quite handsome, dog out of my face" "don't you know there is a law that says you need to stay back 150 feet from all marine mammals" Stupid Riley no matter how many times I tell him this simple rule.. He forgets! That's why I always carry his leash even though there is no one else on the beach for miles. Well.. with Riley secured, I took a good look at the seal and while small he seemed to be pretty healthy. So I let him be. Just like they will tell you to do when you call the marine mammal rescue line.

A few weeks back I came across 3 medium sized seals on the beach. 3 is a lot for any one day, so I call a few people, and the mammal rescue even returns my call. It is determined, that they were in fact, baby elephant seals. They are pretty big for pups, super cute, and have these huge round heads. They don't look anything like the adults. Anyway they looked like they were on their deathbed to me. Turns out they were just dead tired. They come in to sleep after their first long trek from the islands (75 miles I am told) By the time I came back later in the day to shoot a couple photos using my EF100-400mmL series lens and staying at least 150 feet back.. they were gone. So back to our new baby seal. Here comes the sad part..


I continue my walk down the beach and about 500 yards to the north there is a dead adult seal rolling back and forth in the surf. Dead seals are not that uncommon on the coast but, this one is fresh, and and has a pretty huge chunk of flesh taken out near his rear flippers. As you will see in the pictures it is a pretty round chunk, and there are also a couple of deep incisions (tooth) Immediately I am thinking this is probably the mother and was a victim of some toothy creature, making our new favorite baby seal an orphan.



Here's where my speculation comes in. Mother and baby are swimming in the nearby waters possibly in the shark zone about 3-4 miles north of here, yes Carpinteria.. at the harbor seal rookery/sanctuary. This is where the violent attack occurred back in March of 2006. Two baby seals had there heads bit right off by a toothy creature known as "whitey" There were witnesses to the this attack and it made front page news in the Coastal View. This is the same stretch of coast that my friend Billy and his wife were on SUP's paddling from Indicator to the Pier one beautiful morning. She had "whitey" do a pass by on her. Just rose to the surface, looked straight at her, and went back down.. Yikes! Anyway back to the seals. Harbor seals do not have ears and do not speak so they hired some volunteers from seal watch to speak on their behalf. Seal watch volunteers are located on the bluffs just above the rookery. Stay back! They use signs so they don't have to yell and scare the seals.. Wait.. they don't hear. Actually the signs are for the people that don't hear. Anyway.. Unless your dog is right in their face stay back..

More speculation. The wound is not debilitating so mom and baby manage to get away from said toothy creature. Unfortunately, the wound is near some major arteries so she eventually bleeds out and they both land on the beach in LC. At this point I am pretty convinced our baby seal is likely an orphan. Hopefully he has learned enough to feed and fend for himself. Lots of seals (sea lions) nearby. Surely one can help him. But he needed to get back to the water. It was low tide and quite far away. I thought I come back at high tide without Riley and convince him to get back in. Anyway.. He decided not to wait for high tide and casually slid off the rock and walked on down to waters edge and went in..

Side note: I use to work for the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network and love wild animals with a passion. We used to rescue everything from mice to coyotes. It is a great feeling to nurse one back to health and be there for the release. Most of what we dealt were animals in distress as a result of people, cars, dogs, cats, etc. I support that 100%. But if you have a naturally occurring death or circumstance, I think you need to take a step back and let nature take it's course. imo..I did a number of unnecessary rescues of these animals too. Only to have them put to sleep. I really believe they should have been left for the vultures, crows, opossums, other carrion eaters, if you know what I mean. From what I know.. The Marine Mammal Rescue which is separate from the Wildlife Rescue, will only get involved if it's is endangered by humans. They may move it to a quieter location or something. They may also get involved for research with some sick animals at times as well. Aside from that, they tend to let nature take it's course. Which is fine by me. God speed baby seal...

A simple drive. self help books.. therapy... or something..

This one is just about some personal reflection. Skip it if you are looking for something funny or informative.. Like bricks, or Banana Growers. Otherwise bare with me while I just write down some stuff for no reason. The seasons are changing and the surf up here is starting to wind down. I missed some good wind swell while I was up in Mammoth over Easter and since I have been back. I had one pretty nice day at indicator, and another average day sitting inside a bit.. the rivermouth. 2 surfs in one week. maybe it was 3.. That is still about 4 short! This definitely is a problem. The surf feeds my soul..

Getting waves in the summer means driving. Now that I live in LC.. It is about 5 minutes closer to Oxnard or Ventura. That is about as far south as I like to go. And of course there is "the left" Not to mention some small usually crappy, waves in front of the house. Those can be a blast some times. Now that I live downstairs I can't see the surf in front of the house so I could be missing it right now! When I lived in Oxnard I would make the occasional trip to the Malibu area but.. otherwise I have a mental block which ends in Port Humneme. I love Jalama but it is a drive, gas is expensive, camp spots are hard to get, and face it, it's hit or miss there. Anyway pray for some continued west swell to bring me through spring and into summer. Please.

Really that's not why I am writing. It's been a little over two weeks since the huge fight with me wife that left us both hurt, and injured, and ready to finally give up. I've been going through a series of revelations ever since. Revelation 1 Wow.. I am really hurt by everything "I said" in the middle of the fight. The things she said were painful as well but what I said, was the most damaging to me. My wife is really sick of the fighting and ready to move on and maybe I should be too. But still there is something there. We both know. And that something is good, and fun, and playful. But really I want her to depend on me for anything. Something she has given up on..

Revelation 2 This occurred to me when I was en route to Mammoth with my my daughters. They had a horoscope book and Sara was flipping through reading excepts on relationships, and general personality traits. Now while I have always believed you can hear whatever you want in those things and fit them into your life there is always some truth to these things. There is no doubt that I am stubborn as a bull! That is just fucking great! What am I supposed to do with that gift? Most of the time this just a huge personality flaw. Anyway.. combine that with some Bipolar Disorder and I can act quite childish at times. So.. it may appear to the casual observer that I am in fact a jerk!


Take for example one of my trips to Mammoth this year.. I let every one know as we hit the road.. We will be stopping in Mohave.. and Bishop.. for gas. Maybe dinner in Bishop. "It would be better if you just grab some food at the AMPM" I just want to get there, have a glass of wine, and wind down from what is a long trip with 6 people and a dog in the Syncro. But.. the restless passengers are getting hungry way earlier than that. This is when that stupid bull starts to rise above. I end up with all this anger, and frustration, because things are not going according to my plan. Practically ready to throw a tantrum. I stop anyway in Lone Pine for some Pizza but, I am being such a jerk, to my wife, and all the kids, mine, hers, J's friend. Arrrggg.. Told them I didn't want a pizza and ordered a sandwich instead as my final desperate childish act. That will teach them..

Wtf.. I couldn't give up my dream plan to enjoy a nice dinner with my family??? Madness! I really just wanted to say. I am so happy everyone is here on this trip with me and I love you all. But I was too mad.. Too Stubborn. So who's to blame. The stars! Them for not adhering to the plan, or me for not being flexible and just happy to be there.. I can't see anyone to blame but myself. I am just glad my wife let that outburst go and we ended up having a great trip. Revelation 3 I make myself mad. I thought they were making me mad. Duh..

So I began reading the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz I have gotten through the first three, and number one is really the basis for the the other three so I will dwell on that for a moment. No wait! I will tell you the four agreements first.

1) Be impeccable with your word

2) Don't take anything personally

3) Don't make assumptions

4) Always do your best

"Be impeccable with your word" The definition of impeccable is: without sin, flawless, etc.. I thought I was being impeccable but, when I looked deeper I see I wasn't. I was throwing out so much poison in the form of words, carelessly, or intentionally, it didn't matter. Agreements were being made, by both parties. Accepted to be true. So now they are. I don't know how to fix this. Whats done is done but, I am sorry. Only today matters. People don't realize the power of their words or see the harm that can be caused with speaking carelessly, thoughtlessly or aggressively. I didn't. Man I speak so carelessly, and thoughtlessly, that I don't even remember what I said half the time. I can't even pinpoint when the conversation went from friendly banter to whatever it was that upset my wife, my kids, or my friends. Aggressively?? Look out! I am going to let that f- bomb fly and worse. Most of us are aware that screaming at someone may be upsetting to them, but subtle little digs at them, or gossip behind their backs, can hurt others more than we realize, and in hurting them, we hurt ourselves. It is those little digs that put a lot of poison into my relationship. Revelation 4 Words hurt more than I realized and I need to be a bit more thoughtful with what I want to say..

Anyway.. Just acknowledging these things has somehow brought a new lightness to my personality or being. I feel it. And it feels good. This is a good way to be. Nothing has really changed.