At the Brown's Bay marina, someone was gutting fish, and the harbour seals were hanging around, waiting for their share of the goodies.
Lazy afternoon. Why go fishing, when you've got humans to do it for you? |
Harbour seals have no ear flaps, and the ear canal is visible behind the eye. |
She is smaller than the first one, and fatter. I assume she's female; the males are larger. |
This seal was resting for a while on the sea floor after the fisherfolk had finished and left; she seemed to be sleeping, but came up to look at us, then sunk to the bottom again. A harbour seal can stay underwater for up to 40 minutes.
Slightly less lazy than the seals, a number of jellies floated with the current, pulsating gently as they went, catching plankton in their stinging tentacles.
Water jelly, aka many-ribbed medusa, Aequorea sp. |
Moon jelly, Aurelia labiata. Notice the scalloped edge, and the many short tentacles. |
A school of tiny fish was more active, circling and circling, sometimes breaking the surface of the water, leaving little circles of wavelets.
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En el muelle de Brown's Bay, unos pescadores estaban limpiando su captura del dia, y un grupo de focas moteadas daban vueltas, esperando su parte de la bonanza.
- Una tarde tranquila. ¿Porqué ir a cazar cuando cuentas con humanos que comparten su pesca?
- Las focas moteadas no tienen orejas, y se ven los canales auriculares grandes.
- Esta foca es más chica que la primera, y creo que es hembra; los machos son más grandes. Descansaba en el fondo del agua después de que los pescadores habían terminado su tarea y se habían ido. Parecía que estaba durmiendo, pero subió a mirarnos por un momento; luego se volvió a sumergir. Las focas moteadas pueden quedar sumergidas por hasta 40 minutos.
- No tan flojas como las focas; unas medusas flotaban en la corriente, palpitando levemente, atrapando plancton con sus tentáculos. Esta es una de las "medusas de agua", Aequorea spp.
- Una medusa "luna", Aurelia labiata. Se notan su borde ondulado y sus múltiples tentáculos finos.
- Más activos: un banco de pececitos dando vueltas. A veces rompen la superficie del agua, haciendo círculos de onditas. Estos son arenques juveniles, alevines.
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