Chubs~

Dec18

This is how I like to see seals,

curious, chubby and healthy.

This is how I don’t like to see sea lions, suffering from human carelessness.

In one afternoon, in the same area, I photographed the one sea lion with a plastic ring painfully constricting his neck, and another seal (above) with the scars from a similar previous encounter. We notified a park ranger and she assured us that animal rescue had been notified and would come help the ensnared sea lion. This is what happens to discarded human plastic. It ends up in the ocean and injures innocent animals. Seeing two animals on one beach on the same day, with the same problem, gives us an idea of how often this happens. Most of the time the animals are not found or saved.

Seals are curious and peaceful creatures. They, unlike sea lions, do not have ear flaps, and cannot lift themselves up on their front flippers. The move about on land in a slug like fashion, but in the water they flit about fast and skillfully like birds.

These are a group of sea lions with a very handsome blondie. You can see their small ear flaps and the distinctive way they can sit up on their front flippers. They look quite regal when they do this. Once, a long time ago, I saw a sea lion, on this same beach, up on top of a rock face, twenty-five or more feet above the sand, far away from the water. Storm surge from the day before must have deposited him there. He looked quite kingly, surveying his realm! I have no idea how he got down, but he wasn’t there the next day.

Seals on the other hand tend to look you in the eye with beautiful, beseeching looks!

They are winsome,

and quite chubby when healthy. You can see the ear opening here, with no ear flap.

Cheers to you from the innocent seals and sea lions from La Jolla California~

239 thoughts on “Chubs~”

  6. This breaks my heart, and yet thank goodness for vigilant people like you, and for marine rescue, who help these innocent and beautiful creatures. Not only do we as individuals get careless with our ‘throw aways,” but companies who produce this kind of plastic need to be taken into account. Make changes. For years I have taught my children/grandchildren/friends/even strangers how important it is to cut the plastic rings off of soda bottles and cans (the plastic that is used to keep them together). Those plastic rings are so dangerous for birds and other wildlife. It takes some effort, but we just need to cut each ring apart with scissors. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they weren’t produced at all! Thanks for this wonderful post.

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  8. Aww, Cindy, you captured the beautiful spirits of these gorgeous seals! I hate to see the garbage that ends up in our waters and ultimately around the neck of a seal as you show us. I always cut any loops in our trash before it goes to “recycling.” It takes 3 seconds. Merry Christmas to you down in the holler and see you in January!

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  9. These are fantastic photos! We’ve been to the beach in La Jolla to see the seals. My daughter loved it. She wanted to be a marine biologist then. And when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, we used to go to Seal Beach to watch them. Thanks for helping the sea lion with the plastic.

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  10. It’s heartbreaking when I see this, Cindy. So glad you make people aware of this and hopefully they”ll be freed from that nasty plastic very soon, they deserve to have freedom and peace🙏Pawkisses for a Happy Sunday🐾😽💞

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  12. Incredible photos Cindy. It is so heartbreaking to see the devastation us humans are creating. I have personally made it my mission this past year to make every attempt to use plastic as little as possible. Sure hope the seals you reported were helped. 💕

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    • Good for you. Using as little plastic as possible, is a very smart strategy. Recycling plastic was an idea glomed on from plastic manufacturers, so people would continue to purchase plastic, thinking it was responsible if they recycled it. The best way to beat this, is to purchase the least amount of plastic possible.

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  13. This is an adorable, lovable animal. Still, the clubbing of baby seals goes on in Canada. It sickens me!!!!!!!!!
    Our garbage is a horrific blight on the planet.
    I’ve been collecting plastic mesh bags that certain produce comes in, to use in an Art Gown.
    They are not recyclable, so end up in landfills. Birds that eat at landfills get their beaks stuck in the mesh, and starve to death.
    This will be my most honourable Art Gown. I’ve got a few people collecting, but most deny they know what I’m talking about. Meanwhile the produce dept. is filled with these bags.

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    • I know exactly what you are talking about, on many levels. The baby seal clubbing should have stopped decades ago. I can well imagine the markets that still purchase the skins of baby seals that come up to greet you, before you club them to death. And then there is the other seemingly unresolvable problem with human beings. We are so dependent on products that are harmful to us, to all creatures, and our planet. Plastic is horrible for us. Microwaving it is toxic to us. But it is convenient. So it is hard to live without it. We seem to now be enslaved by the products we need.

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    • Wales is a place I would like to visit. But, then, covid is preventing this. Anyone who is fascinated by wild creatures is a person I have a lot in common with. Thank you for being fascinated Emma and Merry Christmas to you and yours დ

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  23. We love to go to La Jolla and see the seals and sea lions. but how heartbreaking to see them suffering with those plastic rings constricting their heads! Thank you for showing the need to be more careful with trash, especially plastics!

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  26. Really great photos of the sea lions and seals! You caught many of their different expressions and got close to take these pictures.
    The seal with the plastic ring around its neck is horrible. Our actions harm the environment and animals.
    Thanks for sharing information about the difference between seals and sea lions. 🙂

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  31. I don’t often get containers with plastic rings, but I always cut them up before putting them in the trash. Most of our trash gets burned for energy. But a while back I went kayaking and because of a group that was a head of us in the water (picking up tons of trash their goal), we also took it upon ourselves to pick out glass and plastic bottles and an odd assortment of junk.

    The gal we rented the kayaks from filled several bags with the trash we collected. And happy that we had helped. 🙂

    Lovely seals. Happy Holly Daze!!

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  36. Seeing the huge plastic islands floating through the ocean is one thing, but seeing an animal’s life directly threatened by plastic is quite another. I wish we could make up our minds to do something about this problem, because whatever we are doing is not working. 😢

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  40. Today I have been reviewing all your posts that I and so many others have enjoyed for years. Your seal photos captured the essence of these beautiful, gentle creatures with the sweetest faces and like you say beseeching look in their eyes. I have been cutting up those plastic loops for at least 25 years and whenever I ask others to do so they look at me with wonder. Lovely to see a few of your readers and you also are cutting those damn things up. Here in Ontario, we are seeing alternatives in a few of the items we buy. Yeah for reporting the seal in distress and yes, you are a hero, but then of course, you did. The main takeaway from all your posts and photos is your deep love of animals and nature and I applaud you and thank you for sharing all you do, and making the world that much brighter and hopeful that one day everyone will care as you do. Warm regards, Susan

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    • Thank you sincerely for such kind and thoughtful comments Susan. You are so appreciated for all the advocacy and serious committed good you do! I applaud you in return. Being in nature and experiencing animals living naturally is one of the most abiding thrills of my life. I cannot imagine living without this deeply centering experience. I just read today that 20 of The Yellowstone wolf pack have been shot when they left the confines of the park. These wolves were reintroduced to save them, and I have watched the packs hunt, a thrill of a lifetime. When will we learn? When wild animals and habitats are gone, they are gone forever, as we will be as a species, if we are not far more careful, far more quickly. დდ

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  41. Pingback: Easy, Mindful & Delicious Ways to Make a Difference for Animals

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