Video: MacAbee Beach with seals: March 1, 2009

[ScubaSteve]

I'll make the effort to get this back on topic since I kind of steered it away.

Are you guys encountering harbour seals often where you dive? You have my envy.....I get to dive with tiny crayfish and the odd fish larger than about 4" long. That is about it.

 

[Gombessa]

I'd say we see harbor seals every other dive or so at MacAbee. The juveniles are really playful, they get close to you and sometimes follow you around for a several minutes, nipping on fins and stealing snorkels and such. The adults tend to keep their distance.

We have a lot of sea lions too. I don't recall seeing any juveniles, but we do have large adults dive-bombing or feign-charging us in pretty adrenaline-releasing moments. No reported casualties though.

MacAbee is by far the most sealy spot I've been to. I've seen them everywhere, but everywhere else it's like every 4th dive or so you might get a glimpse of one swimming by in the distance.

 

[eric gundrum]

I had a great seal encounter at Whaler's Cove last October. We were just heading back from a bowl near Hole-in-the-Wall. We came over the last reef to the edge of the sand channel when a harbor seal came up fast behind us. It went strait to my buddy, seemingly checking out all his gear. It looked like it was giving him a pat-down search. I felt like this went on for minutes, though I expect it really was much shorter.

When my buddy wouldn't play any more, the seal came for me. We were nose-to-nose, eye-to-eye. I never realized how big their eyes are. I could reach out and rub his belly and feel his claws. Then it moved on, probably looking for other divers to play with. This was a great encounter. I think every dive team was talking about the seal that day at Pt. Lobos.

We'd seen seals before at Whalers Cove; possibly even the same one. And they've buzzed us. But never before had one been so daring and so playful. It was like interacting with a puppy or a kitten.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I never realized how big their eyes are.

I have not been fortunate enough to see seals or sea lions in person while diving so when I first saw this picture taken by spt29970 here on SB, I thought for sure it must have been digitally altered. But it was not so I can definitely relate to your comment.

 

[mikemill]

Has anyone risked petting them? They are just so cute I want to do it but I fear the possible results

 

[ScubaSteve]

Has anyone risked petting them? They are just so cute I want to do it but I fear the possible results

I can only imagine if one got upset rather than playful but I would want to as well. But, for what it is worth, I wanted to reach out and pet the sharks as they swam right in froont of me on my shark dive. Then my brain engaged and I thought better of it .

 

[Gombessa]

I've always tried to be passive with seals - when they get close, I just sit and watch. They've gotten close enough where I kind of put my hands up to guard or push them away from my head/mask, but they're pretty nimble and a lot of times just slink out of reach.

I wouldn't want to get anywhere near the big adult seals or sea lions. I have footage from a couple of months ago where a couple big seals were snapping/barking at each other, about 10ft from us, and we scrambled behind a strand of kelp for cover!

 

[mikemill]

I think I saw that video. And yeah those harbor seals are nimble.

 

[mikeguerrero]

It might be the month these seals are getting ready for mating, when they bark at each other side to side they are setting up rank.

I saw the episode on Blue Planet and they do this to avoid physical contact. So the bark they give each other head to head is mating techniques.

When I saw Ken's video on the harbor seal I thought about that documentary; must be careful with these seals, they are not tame and far from being any kitten.

When they bite it's going to hurt and you are either going to get injured or injure the seal by fighting back.

I'm with Ken on this one, sit back and be passive and protect your face and wait for them to slink away.

They are beautiful creatures and are fun to watch under the water but that's about as much as I gotten with these elusive seals.

They do have large eyes as I had one come right up to my face and it spooked me since it was just my 11th dive in Monterey at Lovers.