Turtle Journal

“Chubby” in the Salt Marsh

Rounding Turtle Point off south Lieutenant Island this morning, I spotted a grayish shape sagging with the contour of the salt marsh tufts.  A quick scan with binoculars identified Chubby.  She lay about 50 feet to the east of her last location and in an area which is flooded at each high tide.

“Chubby” — Ailing Juvenile Harp Seal

She appeared so lethargic as I approached that I suspected she had passed.  But, no, as I tight-roped through the mucky marsh flats and circled for a closer view, she still tracked my movement with her eyes if not with her head.

Evidence of Confrontation

The area of her left side, which evidenced a confrontation on Monday, still seemed raw with some spotty blood traces.  She continues to expel gas in audible bursts.

Juvenile Harp Seal

During this quick assessment, she lifted her head only once and briefly; she did not exhibit any defensive behavior.  Her eyes have some crusting around the lower edges, but I saw no fresh exudate.

“Chubby” — the Ailing Juvenile Harp Seal

The juvenile harp seal, first spotted on Saturday, remains beached along the wrack line of south Lieutenant Island.  While she shifted nearly 500 feet, probably with the tidal flow, to the west from Saturday to Sunday, she now rests within a foot or two of yesterday’s location.

Don Lewis Examines Ailing Juvenile Harp Seal

On closer examination, she has begun to exhibit labored breathing which I did not detect during earlier observations.  This afternoon’s 11.7-foot-high tide may afford her another opportunity to head out to sea, but after tomorrow morning’s high, tides will begin to drop sharply leaving her a goodly waddling distance to reach freedom.

 Juvenile Harp Seal off Turtle Point

I returned to Lieutenant Island today to check up on the juvenile harp seal, which seemed a bit abnormal yesterday.  I found her washed up with the midday flood tide along the wrack line about 500 feet further to the west than Saturday.

 Ailing Juvenile Harp Seal

She lay on her left side, almost on her back.  And, as I approached, I heard a chorus of gross sounds somewhat akin to the campfire scene from Blazing Saddles.  This lady was exploding gas, which may account for her excessive roly-poly appearance.

 Ailing Juvenile Harp Seal

She was responsive but did not act with normal aggression.  She did not bark me away but tried to follow my movements with her eyes.

Ailing Juvenile Harp Seal

 Her eyes remain filled along the edges with a foamy white substance which gives her a drowsy appearance.  The second healthy pup, which I found yesterday occupying Turtle Point hill, has moved on to greener, or perhaps snowier, pastures.  But I think this other one may be floating in and out with the tide.  I’ll check on her again tomorrow and continue to report on her condition for the Mammal Stranding Network.

Turtle Point on Lieutenant Island Occupied by Harp Seals

Well, it used to be called Turtle Point: the south hill of Lieutenant Island, which nesting diamondback terrapins scale in waves during June and July, and from which hundreds of tiny hatchlings scramble each fall through a phalanx of predators to reach safety in the surrounding nursery marsh.  But this year has witnessed a Canadian invasion of terrapin territory.  An army of juvenile harp seals has swarmed Wellfleet Harbor and today took possession of Turtle Point itself.

Juvenile Harp Seal on Turtle Point

An active, aggressive harp seal surprised my daily marsh patrol when he barked me away from Turtle Point in his best King of the Hill imitation.  This beautiful pup had begun munching bearberry and showed the healed scar of an earlier unfortunate encounter across his forehead.

Chubby Juvenile Harp Seal

Along the adjoining Marsh Road, another harp seal had floated in with the midday flood tide.  The fattest seal I have seen this winter, or perhaps ever, this one looked as though its too small flippers would never be adequate to power such a well-endowed, roly-poly body.

Rags Shares Turtle Hill with Juvenile Harp Seal

The good news for dear Rags and his beloved terrapins, too, is that spring arrives in two weeks and soon the weather will force these blubbery invaders back once more into the Great White North.

On a New England crisp night when stars pop from the skyscape like alien spacecraft, one might be forgiven for an open-mouth doubletake on an unexpectedly close encounter of a very different kind.  A big gray ET?  Well, the color’s right.  And the eyes look fairly Roswellian.

Seal Blocks the Lieutenant Island Causeway

Bouncing over the tinkertoy bridge, the jeep’s headlights captured a strange shape guarding the causeway approach to Lieutenant Island.  Colors blending perfectly against mottled gray asphalt dotted with splattered shellfish dropped by Wellfleet’s too smart sea gulls, a harp seal spanned the roadway.  Had she not raised her head as the car approached, it would have been a close call whether or not she could have been spotted in time.

Soaking Up Radiational Heating from Asphalt Causeway

Obviously well nourished, she probably slipped onto the asphalt causeway to soak up the remnants of a sunny day’s heat buildup, because radiational cooling under a dry, cloudless sky had begun to drive temperatures below freezing.  And she wasn’t about to surrender her heating blanket without a protest.

Tire Tracks Bisecting Causeway Where Seal Lies

But with tire tracks bisecting her body, prudence called for her to skedaddle.  So, despite her barking protests, I escorted this fair maiden into the abutting salt marsh, looking over my shoulder every few minutes to be sure no strange blinking lights appeared overhead.