These lazy, slug-like seals recover from the freezing clutches of the Pacific by lolling (and LOLing) in the sand where there was once a kiddie pool. They rudely sleep, scratch, and even have their babies right where HUMAN babies could be swimming. Apparently some people got mad about the seals acting all "Seal Privilege" and wanted to make the seals leave, or perhaps dress them up like toddlers, and there is a big controversy. So far the seals get to stay.
Like most of the animals I get to photograph, they're habituated to people, looking up longingly in the hope that you'll drop your halibut-flavored ice cream cone.
In addition to the adorable waddling of these Sea Fatties, there were a few birds at the beach. First, a Black Phoebe. Now, these things like water, but this is the first time I've seen one actually on the beach, foraging amidst the kelp.
Lots of brown pelicans do their part to keep the beach stinky and poo-covered:
And I also got some shots of a Heerman's gull. E-bird lists them as appearing in Alameda county (with many sightings at Eastshore park, not too far from Lake Merritt), but I don't think I've ever seen one there. Anyway, like the ring-billed gull, it's something of a gull freebie: the only one with a red beak and greyish body. They have this streaky looking head during winter, and a white head when trying to get a date.
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