Anyone seen this guy at Shaw's?

[livewire]

Did a little solo beach dive at Shaw's Cove (Laguna) on Christmas Day to check out my new used UW camera and housing. I come up on the arch there and shoot a few shots, just playing around with my rig figuring things out...

Okay, cool, it works, then out of the blue THIS GUY SHOWS UP:

This young harbor seal was INCREDIBLY curious and just got closer and closer to me. He was really interested in the camera and maybe my bubbles, so I kept shooting, but at one point, I had to push him back literally. I put my hand gently to his chest and pushed him back a bit. He grasped his flippers around my wrist and I felt his claws but pushed him gently back a bit. Anyway, we played for a moment and off through the arch he went.

A bit later, I'm head down in the camera experimenting with some macro shots when I felt something large rub up against my leg. "Holy Crap!" I screamed like a little girl through my regulator (I remind you I was SOLO) and here he was AGAIN wanting to play! Again he got close and again I had to maintain distance...

He didn't like the screaming apparently because he took off almost immediately after I grabbed this shot. I calmed down, decided okay, if he comes back again, I won't scream! A bit later, now about 25 feet, deeper on the reef, I started thinking, "Man here's this great opportunity to have a real connection with an animal underwater and I go and blow it. I'm going to stay calm next time I see him." Just as I thought that, he shows up over my shoulder and makes another attempt at giving me a heart attack! "Holy Crap!" I screamed again! He hung out for like 2 seconds longer this time, and then up and away he went. Never saw him again after that.

So question for my fellow Shaw's Cove Divers out there. Have any of you guys had similar experiences with this young pup recently or was I just lucky??

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

WOW...I have nothing to add to seeing the pup...but thats awesome!!!! Great story and pics....thats a great connection with the wild and must have been fun and also made you a little jumpy when getting nubbed by the unknown

 

[JMdiver]

That is so cool, you were so lucky to have one get up & personal. I've dove there a few times & just had them swim by. Once out at San Miguel I had one poke me in the side.

John

 

[drbill]

If I remember correctly, a number of dive reports for Shaw's posted on Orange County Diving news mention encounters with a very friendly young harbor seal.

 

[livewire]

Thanks Dr. Bill. Do you recall if those dive reports were recent? I'll have to check that out...

Haven't really read CDN that much in a while, but I knew that I couldn't be the only one to have seen this little guy. Wasn't really sure what to make of him, as I was wondering if he just wanted to play or if he wanted to steal my camera! Either way he certainly seemed accustomed to divers so I had a feeling somebody must've seen him.

I don't usually take the camera off the beach, but conditions were really calm and I really wanted to test out my new rig. Glad I had the camera on this one or I don't think my family would have believed me!

 

[SoCalAngel]

I've had encounters with Harbor seals like that, but at Pt. Lobos in Carmel.

 

[ScubaBob92651]

Thanks Dr. Bill. Do you recall if those dive reports were recent? I'll have to check that out...

Haven't really read CDN that much in a while...

Not CDN, but the OC Diving News Email list, you can join here.

 

[Ann Marie]

Did a night dive with some divers that were doing their first night dive. As an afterthought in the dive planning, I mentioned that there is a Harbor Seal that plays around Shaw's (we were at Diver's). I said, that if they saw something big and gray streak by not to worry. So glad I mentioned it as it showed up!!!


Nice photos!!!

 

[livewire]

Thanks for the correction and the link, ScubaBob. I'll go sign up for that one!

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Great story, and funny, too... :lol: (Great photos!)