Seal Hugs

It has been a slow year so far for me in a number of ways. Blog posts for one, so apologies on that front. The fish also have been reluctant to show themselves to me and the Basking sharks haven't put in an appearance - reports suggest record low numbers of sightings which is a real shame. Still I can't complain because the seals are really coming through for me :)

I have always been jealous of some of the films I have seen on youtube of scuba divers getting seal hugs and wondered what the main differences are. Is it the fact that the divers are deeper and more static? That they are in a location where the seals are friendlier? Or just the familiarity of constant exposure to scuba divers? Well I have just returned from an incredible dive with a new seal at one of my favourite spots. He was a young male and was MUCH more friendly than any other seal I have yet encountered.

I had spent some time hunting (and failing to find) Bass and was frankly surprised not to have bumped into one of my regular seal friends. It was only when I returned to the shallows along the shore that I noticed I was being tailed by a seal I didn't recognise. I unloaded my gun and turned on my camera and waited to see how this newcomer was going to react. It was quickly apparent that he was extremely inquisitive, he glided elegantly around me and straight away decided my fins looked tasty. Unlike the other seals he was happy to swim right underneath me and was attracted rather than nervous when I dived down.

I began to realise this was going to be a special dive and I wasn't wrong. The seal played with me for over an hour, getting bolder and bolder, clearly completely unphased by close proximity he would pop up right next to me and look around turning his back on me. Or swim right underneath me, even sniff my hand and let me scratch his chin. It was like playing with a friendly underwater dog :)

I will let the video do the talking. Suffice to say it was a magical experience! (HD Fullscreen and chuck me a like on youtube if you er like it!)

Reacquainting myself.

I had arranged to take my photographer friend diving again to try and get some good shots of grey seals after our last failed attempt.

We rendezvoused in the afternoon at one of my favourite spots which is home to the friendly seals I have blogged about in the past. From my experience I knew that there was about a 90% chance of encountering the seals and likely getting to swim with them. Through my binoculars I could see two of them basking on the rocks just above the water line, and as we got ready the tide reached them and they slipped into the sea.

Knowing that they were around and swimming I felt confident that we would get a good dive. As we entered the water we saw that the visibility wasn't great but certainly acceptable and we struck out towards where the seals had been resting. As we drew near I saw the recognizable head of what I had always though of as the 'mother' which we were informed later is a male. In my experience the males are usually more standoffish which is perhaps why I always assumed he was a female despite his masculine features.

We dived with him for some time but he was not as playful as usual and I didn't wasn't to pester him so we finned off around the rocks to a gully I know the females and younger seals like to frequent. I hoped that he might follow us but he had obviously lost interest at this point. Luckily the younger seal (probably the pup I first met last year) was in the gully as I had hoped and she immediately began circling us and acting in a very inquisitive and brave manner. Two other females showed up but kept their distance, on occasion racing past us very quickly, they put on a great show!






(As usual it's best in hi def/ full screen.)

Unfortunately my friend had only brought his compact camera and not his large high quality rig so although we got some nice shots and some fun video he didn't get the images he needed for his project. It was a great dive though and I was thrilled to find the young pup growing up into a beautiful adolescent, much braver than she was the first time I met her. She even approached me and gave my fins a little sniff so I'm hopeful of many more great dives with her In the year ahead.

On the fin home my mullet sense started tingling so I loaded my gun and sure enough found a couple for dinner in the murkier water close to shore.

Another Season begins!

Well it's been a long winter and I'm sorry for the dearth of updates! Still Spring is in the air (if not the sea quite yet) and the diving season approaches.

The surf has been outstanding so I haven't felt like my lack of diving has meant I'm missing out on quality sea time. There have been lovely sunny days and offshore winds, you can't beat it! So far this year I have only dived twice. Firstly at a secluded cove to take a friend hunting (with a camera) for seals as part of a photography project. The day was calm and sunny but the sea was cold and murky and although we found three or four grey seals who did investigate us quite closely, the visibility unfortunately meant no photographs were got. They seemed defensive rather than playful, probably due to the proximity to a cave they may use to rest.

My second dive was my first spear of the season and once again the water was cold and murky. My breathe holds were also terrible and I felt a distinct lack of confidence which reduced my bottom times considerably. The incredibly low tides were a good opportunity to visit a local wreck which was in very shallow water and great fun to dive around. Especially as a lot of the sand that normally covered it had been washed away and the kelp that normally festoons the metalwork has yet to grow back.

Finally as I returned, shivering to shore having seen nothing but a few Wrasse, a small shoal of Grey Mullet emerged out of the murk, the largest of which came home with me for dinner.

A good start to the year!