Wednesday, 1 December 2021

A seal is resting along the Opanuku Stream

December 1, 2021 started with excitement at Waitakere Gardens. Early-bird residents who had crossed the bridge over the Opanuku on their way to shop at Pak'nSave and had then returned, reported that there was a seal sleeping on the rocks that bordered that stream.  

Jeanne, who was gardening, heard it first from Arthur and she called me.  I threw on my shoes and made a beeline for the bridge.  My pictures, and these videos, both from my camera and daughter Allie's, will show you what we saw.



I asked a couple of people and they both agreed that it was a fur seal.  




Some people expressed concern to me that it might need rescuing.  After watching it for some time however, it was my opinion that it was just catching 40 winks.  
One lady told me that someone had called and reported the sighting to the authorities.  






These are my first two videos






When I returned to our apartment and uploaded my first batch of photos, (above) I sent a couple to Allie, thinking she might like to see the seal in person.  She, Dory and Arram (Amiri was in school) came quickly, parking near the waterpark and went down below the bridge to see what they could see.  Their vantage point worked out really well.  They picked up the action both under the bridge and then down the stream. 

This is a couple of hours later, and the seal is waking up.  

Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. Unknown1 December 2021 at 16:55

    He is gorgeous! I wonder what his name is? Obviously, he likely doesn't have one but it would be interesting to name him. I hope that he comes back some day. McKenzie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Doug Foster1 December 2021 at 17:00

    No one I spoke to had ever seen one that far up the Stream before. One person told me however that a number of seals hang about on some of the wharves around the city. We were very lucky.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kathie Luther3 December 2021 at 16:47

    He's a beauty!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Doug Foster4 December 2021 at 17:15

    I agree.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dianne5 December 2021 at 07:28

    Beautiful creature! Your pictures are wonderful and I love the google format for your videos! Allie's videos get you so up-close-and-personal too! Can't help but wonder what brought him or her upstream. Maybe it was scoping out a new nesting area - or maybe just trying to get away from the crowds around the city wharves!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Doug Foster5 December 2021 at 09:48

    People have told me that this was the first time they've ever seen a seal this far upstream. I'm glad I (we) got to see it.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)