Curious Seals
Journey to Heligoland
“Where are you going?” is the first question people ask when hearing the name Heligoland.
“Never heard of it,” is the immediate reaction you repeatedly get after mentioning the name again. And that’s a pity. Heligoland is tiny, but full of things to do and to discover. It’s rich history. It’s beautiful red cliffs. The unterland and oberland. The graceful gannets. And, of course, the sandy Düne (additional island) with it’s large colony of seals.
Heligoland is home to two types of seals: the grey seal and the harbor (common) seal. Even though both are quite interesting, and seeing so many seals together in the wild is a gift in itself, our main focus for today were the harbor seals. After a smooth crossing on the little ferry, which is the main connection between the bigger island and Düne, we unpacked our photography gear and put on our rainsuits. Sitting on the sandy, wet beach could get you soaked through in no time, so we’d better be prepared.
Meeting seals
It was but a short walk to the northern beach, and we soon saw a large number of seals lying around on the beach. Sleeping, relaxing, basically just enjoying their seal life. Some looked up, as we walked by, at a safe and compulsory distance of 30 meters. Most of them were grey seals, and sometimes one awkward sounding grunt would send all of them hobbling away towards the sea. It was quite a comical sight, but still we hadn’t discovered what we were coming for. Where were the harbor seals?
Finally, almost near the end of the long stretch of beach, we discovered quite a small seal lying on the beach. It seemed young enough not to be able to swim yet. We sat down and started taking pictures, staying at the indicated distance of 30 meters. However, young as it was, this seal didn’t move much. Sometimes it’d look up for a second, perhaps thinking “oh, it’s still them!” and then continue it’s nap. Would this be it for the day?
All of a sudden we heard a strange sound. We glanced towards the sea. There was a harbor seal, coming straight at us. Oh no…what were we supposed to do now? We’d kept a safe distance of the little seal, but this one was aiming right for the spot we were sitting. Were we supposed to get up, and frighten it in the process? Or just stay where we were, hoping not to scare it unnecessarily? We decided for the latter, and actually didn’t have much choice since it was quite near already.
Suddenly the seal halted, it’s eyes becoming wide and round. “Whoops…they’re not seals after all, they’re people!” It took one more glance and then turned a full circle and started heading back out to the sea at full speed. It could not be called graceful, but despite that, the seal moved quite quickly and could soon enter the water and swim away. Another unforeseen experience, but once again, one we wouldn’t soon forget.
Curious baby seal
Laughing at you…
Chilling
