FROZEN HANDS AND HARP SEALS

or No Baseball Bat for ME

In February of 1990, Patti arranged a trip to the Isles de Magdalen. This is a string of islands in the mouth of the St Lawrence Seaway. It was one of her dream trips. While she tolerates and even enjoys our trips to warmer places, she had wanted to go see the harp seals since the 70's. Visiting the white, baby seals, their faces punctuated by small dark noses, whiskers, and those big captivating dark eyes had been on her list since Bridget Bardott launched the Save The Seals Campaign. It sounded neat to me and off we went taking 10 year old Patrick.

Getting there was a real pain. We had to fly first to Logan Airport in Boston, then on to Halifax by a smaller plane, then to the Islands via a DC 3. Just getting to the islands took two days. One the appointed day when the weather cooperated, we flew the 40 miles on Helicopters out on to the edge of the ice flows. Patti and I flew in one of the larger one and Patrick flew in the copilots seat on one of the little ones. We were dressed in suits that would keep us from freezing if we went through a hole in the ice. It seemed like a long hot ride out to where the mother seals were giving birth. When the babies are first born they have a yellow coat that bleaches out in a day in the sun. They are totally unafraid of humans which is how the so called sportsman kill them.

Here Patrick makes friends with a little guy that wanted to follow him home. A natural mimic, Patrick learned to make the sound of a baby seal calling its mother. The little guy enjoyed being petted by Patrick who was thrilled at the chance. The mothers are nearby but do not get upset when you pet the seal pups. It is a good thing since they weigh in over two hundred pounds and can really move over the ice when they want to. One mother came out of a blow hole and gave Patrick a start when he was petting her pup.

I am as much an animal lover as anyone in the family. I had a ball but really got my hands almost frozen off. I had tried to get permission to do some drysuit diving and under water video but was denied. I had a EWA bag for my 8mm video camera with me. I put on gloves and wrapped my hands in trash bags holding the video camera deep into a blow hole getting shots of momma seals in their dance under the ice. I was only able to get about ten minutes before the battery died from the cold. I was glad I left that for last as the on the ice video came out great. That battery dying probably kept me from getting frost bite cause I lost the feeling in my fingers for a while. I did get a chance to play with some of the pups as did Patti. What a ball.

Here we are on the beach. Patrick and I are tuckered out from digging a cave in a snow drift. We are laying in the snow to cool off. Patti is still ready to go.