With watchful consideration we steadily approached, an exhilarating feeling of amazement and genuine wonder unfolded - the snow covered sand dune was inundated with yearling grey seal pups in all phases of weaned development.

(As the frigid wind sweep across the open ice pan, this group of grey seals were found sunning themselves on the lee side of Oak Island's sand dune.)

Generally speaking, rookeries of the Gulf region and surrounding Northumberland Strait area, female grey seals usually leave behind their endearing pups three weeks following delivery. If you consider for a brief moment these newly abandon lives, and put forward the comparative equivalence to human offspring and the nurturing process, then the many obstacles limiting survival of an adolescent grey seal become apparent.

Such as unintended delivery at sea or the present-day warming anomalies typified by soft and unstable ice conditions, in addition to the rigors of a harsh polar like environment, combined with the potential of being trodden on by an active parent or helpful companion, to the slow distressing progression of thinning brought about by undernourishment or perhaps even disease. More often than not, fifty percent of all grey seal pups born rarely mature into fully-grown adults.

Under these circumstances, one has to marvel at the inherent resiliency of this extraordinary marine species, and yes, we must never overlook the most indomitable predator of them all, man...

(These two seal pups have recently been weaned. The pup on the bottom has started to moult, and will soon move towards the ocean in search of solid food. Sadly, the tan coloured seal pup pictured above was abandoned prematurely, it is undernourished and in all likelihood will grow to be weary and succumb by the measured anxiety of starvation.)

“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Aldo Leopold

The sensation an individual undergoes while wandering through a seal nursery encircled by the force of animate life is a tremendously humbling experience. For it is not every day that nature presents an occasion upon an interloper, the unassuming emergence and rejuvenation of a living ecosystem.

(more to follow soon...)

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