Look what the storm brought in its wake – great waves, marsh flooding, and dreamy atmospheric skies, along with Sanderlings, Gulls, and an American Pipit feeding at the shoreline.
That’s Rick and Roman Gadbois enjoying the scene in several of the Back Shore photos.
Very sadly though, another dead baby Harbor Seal was washed ashore, this one at Niles Beach. 
Good Morning!
A beautiful golden seal pup was seen at Long Beach Sunday morning. The little Harbor Seal appeared to be only about 25 pounds and was possibly a newborn. The pup was found at the high tide line and was perfectly intact; perhaps he had died within hours of finding him.
Baby Harbor seals spend much of their time out of water on beaches resting and warming while their moms are in the water looking for food. We don’t know how this seal became separated from its mom, but if you do find a dead baby seal on the beach contact NOAA to let them know. NOAA Hotline: 866-755-6622 (Maine through Virginia).
Edited Note – My friend Sandy shared the following phone number from New Hampshire’s Seacoast Science Center, writing that this number is a cell phone so you can easily send a text and photo: 603-997-9448. Ainsley Smith shares that SSC number is good as far south as Essex.
This is a good time of year to remind everyone what to do if you find a living seal pup, or a seal of any age, on the beach. Please keep a distance of at least 100 feet away, which is the law, and keep dogs far away. From the 100 feet distance, check to see if the seal is injured. If the seal appears to be in good condition, leave it alone and remind fellow beach goers to keep their distance. A mother seal may leave her pup on the beach for up to 48 hours!
If the seal is struggling or appears to be injured contact NOAA at 866-755-6622
Thirteen Harbor Seals warming on the rocks, plus a few bobbing heads spotted around the harbor. This charming duo was the most photogenic of the bunch 🙂
As was everyone else, the Harbor Seals were enjoying Tuesday’s 50 degree weather. Much jockeying, grunting, and gnarling over prime rock-real estate was taking place. Paintings of nudes by Renoir and Botero, along with the made-up word tubylette, come to mind whenever I see these bathing beauties basking on the rocks at Brace Cove.
By the time I left after sunset, there were no less than fourteen Harbor Seals hauled out on the rocks.
While photographing the beautiful young Harbor Seal at Brace Cove this week I noticed a large protuberance centered between the seal’s hind flippers. It’s soft fur looked buffy gold in the morning light and it was much easier to see the seal’s anatomical parts than when photographing a darker, more mature seal. I at first thought the prominent knob was its penis, but after googling, discovered, no, it was a tail! However, I can’t find any answers as to what use the tail is employed.
The bulging, rounded cone-shape between the seal’s hind flippers is a tail.
When Harbor Seals are on land their hind flippers are often closed together but this little guy was in a lolling mood. I watched him from my perch, where I was curled up on the rocks for some time, as he stretched, scratched, slept, and yawned.
The Harbor Seal’s V-shaped, or as I like to think of it as heart-shaped, nose nostrils close when underwater.
I think the seal is molting. Harbor Seals molt once a year and the fur of younger seals (up until about three years of age) is more uniform in color.
Harbor Seals, like all phocids, have ear holes, but no external ear flaps.
The Harbor Seal feeds predominantly on fish such as herring, mackerel, hake, salmon, flounder, and cod. They also eat shrimp, squid, clams, crab, octopus, and crayfish. They swallow prey whole or tear into pieces, and use their back molars to crush shellfish. Typically the seals feed at high tide and rest during low tide. Everyday, the adult Harbor Seal eats approximately five percent of its body weight.
Its hind flippers propel the seal through water, in a sort of sculling rhythm. True seals, like Harbor Seals, cannot rotate their hind flippers and that is why they scooch along on their bellies when on dry land.
The blunt one- to two-inch claws of the fore flippers are used for grooming and for defense. 
Harbor Seal grooming with its claws.
I went hoping for a beautiful sky and and found both sky and beautiful Harbor Seal.
Harbor Seal at sunrise, Brace Cove