January 22, 2008
Popeye
…listen
…about the musicA waltz for a pinniped.
One of my most enjoyable errands is a trip to Eric and Brenda’s fish market. An open houseboat structure that rests on a floating dock halfway down the main harbor walkway, it’s where you’ll find the best and freshest gilled and shelled offerings on the island.
Popeye knows this. And it’s where you’ll find her, too.
She figured out quite a long time ago that this was a good deal. Show up, act adorable, let people take your photo, and get some entrails in return for the effort. Oh, and being blind doesn’t seem to hurt business, either. We’re all compassionate suckers. She had a pup last year, and I’m hoping to catch a glimpse soon.
Harbor seals are usually somewhat social and well adapted to life amidst humans and bilge discharges, but Popeye is everyone’s pet. You don’t have to wait long for her to come right over and surface between the dock and the neighboring ketch (artistic photo, eh?). And she doesn’t have to wait long to get what she wants.
But I do: the market is closed for a few weeks while its owners take a winter vacation somewhere very south of here. So I wait. So does Popeye. Except that she’s far better at catching her own fresh fish than I am!
Glenn Buttkus said,
January 22, 2008 @ 10:47 am
Popeye the harbor seal is cute as the dickens. The photo does, at first, like you photo-shopped it, but upon re-examnation we all get to see that you just have the “good eye”. I guess it just goes along with your “good ears”.
For those readers who are ignorant of the family Pinnipedia, as I was:
Pinnipeds (“fin-feet”, lit. “winged feet”) or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae (walruses), Otariidae (eared seals, including sea lions and fur seals), and Phocidae (true seals). Formerly classified as a separate biological suborder, Pinnipedia is now sometimes considered a superfamily within Caniformia, a suborder in the Carnivora order.
Phocidae
Earless seals, also called “true seals” or “phocids” are the most diverse and widespread of the pinnipeds. They lack external ears and more streamlined snouts and are generally more aquatically adapted. They swim with efficient undulating whole body movements using their more developed rear flippers. The efficiency of their swimming and an array of other physiological adaptations make them better built for deep and long diving and long distance migrations. They are, however, very cumbersome on land, moving by wriggling their front flippers and abdominal muscles. True seals generally communicate by slapping the water and grunting, rather than vocalizing
I wonder just how smart seals are? They seem to be quite trainable; kind of like husbands. They have a pair of harbor seals in a tiny aquarium at Westport, and they sell fish to feed them; something for the kids to do. They seem to have voracious appetites. I used to see harbor seals in Elliott Bay. Every once in a while one would show up in Lake Union, somehow a pet escaped, or made a trip through the Ballard Locks. I wonder if Doug has ever seen them in Lake Washington?
Popeye being blind is quite the situation. She certainly does have opaque corneas. Maybe she is only “legally blind” and can still utilize object perception. I don’t think seals use sonar like dolphins, do they? A bit of a mystery certainly. Have other residents or tourists seen the pup?
The jazzy waltz seems perfect for the dance of seals; that perfect jiggle and slide, that makes the best impression for cuteness. Maybe you should take the music on a tape recorder, and play it for her, and share her responses. That would be cool.
Eric & Brenda’s Fish Market does sound like a must-see and must-visit for those of us of the tourista persuasion.
Glenn
Alex Shapiro said,
January 22, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
Nope, no Photoshop– on this, or any of my other photos. Besides, I’m not smart enough to know how to use the program, even though I use the digital, musical equivalent here in my studio!
I’m not sure how trainable husbands are (!), but mine does clap his flippers together in encouragement for me on a regular basis, even if I don’t have a fish to throw him.
Brenda told me that she was able to snap a rare photo of the pup when it was very young, but I haven’t seen it yet. But my camera is usually at the ready when I’m at the harbor, so maybe I’ll get lucky, too.
Joy Franks said,
January 23, 2008 @ 9:44 am
Here’s a link to San Juan Update from August 22. Steve Simpson got a picture of Popeye and her pup. http://sanjuanupdate.com/index113.html I felt so fortunate to see Popeye nosing around the docks shortly after we moved here in September 2007. I’d love to catch a glimpse of the pup as well. We live out of town now on Mt. Dallas so I don’t get to roam around town as much. (You still can’t find a place to park!)