Category: Health and Fitness
Challenge: Play Outside Today
Sponsor: Mountain Khakis
Action: I swam with seal pups in Alaska's Bering Sea!
Christian's Thoughts:
How I made it happen: This summer I was studying abroad in Mongolia, and one of my professors was from Alaska. She was talking about swimming with seals in October, and invited me to come and join. I called her up in October once we were back, and said, "Were you serious?" She was. So I bought a plane ticket.
I was on the island of St. George, in Alaska's Pribilofs. It is one of the largest Northern Fur Seal rookeries, and the rookeries are protected, so trespassing is not allowed. I swam on a different part of the island that is not concentrated with seals like the rookeries are, and on that particular day there were over 100 baby seals feeding along the coastline. I donned a drysuit, hood, gloves, and booties, grabbed a snorkel, and jumped in the surf! (Carefully, so I wouldn't scare them) The dive was amazing- sea urchins lined the rocks, and colorful sea stars the size of dinner platters hid in crevices I wasn't bold enough to explore. Extended anemones waved as I swam past, as the swells crashed over me. I kept a lookout for orcas, and big waves. For some swells I dove as deep as I could and grabbed a large rock, and the waves crashed overhead.
After being in the water for five minutes, the seals grew curious and swam very close to me. Some even swam between my legs, and approached my mask, gazing at their own reflection in my mask.
With all amazing experiences, it didn't last long... The freezing water (literally) seeped through nearly every seal, and after about 20 minutes I called it a day.
During my stay on the island, Orcas often fed on baby seals on the same beach I swam with them, so being in the water was pretty exciting (my lack of killer whale sightings was a good thing!)
I had the opportunity to swim with the pups again on the last day I was there. It was just as amazing.
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