When I first heard that Harbour Seals have their pups on the Icebergs that break off from the face of Tide Water Glaciers I was not sure if I should believe what I was hearing.
On one of my first trips on the second visit to Alaska we went up Tracy Arm (to investigate). We went up the winding fjord till the ice stopped us from getting any closer to the Sawyer Glaciers and that’s when I saw them for the first time. Over the repeated trips up the Arm I saw several mother and pup duos resting on the ice that was warmer than the water it floated on! Yes that’s right, in the water the Seals loose heat much faster than on the surface of an iceberg.
But why do they have have pups on the Icebergs ?!!
There is always a reason for everything in Nature; the maze of icebergs create a protective barrier against the Killer Whales that just love the tasty seals.
The brown beasts in the other photographs are Sea Lions that are extremely aggressive creatures both amongst themselves and towards the world at large. An entire pack once attached the vessel we were traveling in, glad it was not made of wood!
On one of my first trips on the second visit to Alaska we went up Tracy Arm (to investigate). We went up the winding fjord till the ice stopped us from getting any closer to the Sawyer Glaciers and that’s when I saw them for the first time. Over the repeated trips up the Arm I saw several mother and pup duos resting on the ice that was warmer than the water it floated on! Yes that’s right, in the water the Seals loose heat much faster than on the surface of an iceberg.
But why do they have have pups on the Icebergs ?!!
There is always a reason for everything in Nature; the maze of icebergs create a protective barrier against the Killer Whales that just love the tasty seals.
The brown beasts in the other photographs are Sea Lions that are extremely aggressive creatures both amongst themselves and towards the world at large. An entire pack once attached the vessel we were traveling in, glad it was not made of wood!
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