Our first seal-watching trip, off Point Lookout, started as more of a cloud watch.
On a bracing cold day, we scanned the water, the horizon, the sky, for any signs of action during the first few minutes.
Then, it became a whitecap watch. Finally, we saw something grayish bobbing in the Hempstead Bay near Jones Beach. Could it be a gray seal?
"Look! It's a ...
"A gull."
Twenty minutes into the trip, I was preparing to explain the vagaries of nature to my son and daughter and four disappointed classmates. You see, I'd explain, wild animals don't simply come out and perform. The real world is less predictable than Sea World. Life isn't Zoo Tycoon, with other species playing and feeding on a master schedule.
I figured I'd make it sort of a sermon, with the wind whipping at my back and the winter sun meekly trying in vain to warm us. And then, we noticed them - two harbor seals, poking their heads up in the distance.
The kids scrambled across the deck of the 72-foot fishing boat. Binoculars up. Notepads out. (Always trying to give kids an edge in college admissions, I made these third and fifth-graders jot observations.)
Peeping and diving
As the boat cruised through narrows, we saw groups of two or three seals, sometimes more. It was hard to tell - these were harp seals, the smallest of the four species seen in this area, and just when we spotted a dog-shaped head, it would plunge under water, only to pop up a few feet away. Or was that a different harp seal?
The seal watch is organized by Riverhead Foundation, a nonprofit group that rescues sea animals. Trips run Saturday and Sunday afternoons until mid-April. "We want to educate the public about what they can see in their backyard," said foundation director Rob DiGiovanni. "Most people are not aware that seals can be seen in Hempstead Bay and western Long Island and up the Hudson."
Count us among those who weren't aware. As the boat cruised away from the Point Lookout marina, a naturalist showed us pictures of different seals and reeled off facts: Seals are pinnipeds, which give birth on land, unlike dolphins and whales. Harbor seals, the most common around here, are white, silver, gray, with dark spots. Unlike sea lions, which have external ear flaps on their heads, harbor seals have a little hole where their ear is.
By peering through binoculars borrowed from the naturalist, we could see the seals on their backs or poking up their heads and peering at us.
We must have been a strange sight - a bunch of shivering two-legged beasts, wrapped in big coats, sipping hot chocolate. And smiling. By the time we were halfway through the 2-hour-and-20 minute adventure, the kids in my group had pronounced it a success. Their notebooks told the story: "Awesome." "Coooool." "Love it!"
(Full disclosure: While they loved the pinnipeds, the microwave popcorn, soft pretzels and cookies also were popular.)
Above average sightings
We had a bet about how many seals we'd see. The average is 25 to 30, DiGiovanni said. Our group spotted 34 - according to the crew, that is.
Passengers got to test their knowledge with a pop quiz at the end of the trip, and one of the kids in our group won a toy seal thanks to his listening skills. I never did get to ask my most pressing question, which concerned that odd species, humans. One boy on the boat, maybe 13 or 14 years old, spent most of the time hunched over a Nintendo DS, oblivious to the seals a few yards away. Why didn't he just stay in a warm house?
Oh, well. My kids and their friends assure me they were glad to stow away the electronic games for an afternoon. They want to go seal-watching again.
WHEN & WHERE
The Riverhead Foundation runs seal cruises Saturdays and Sundays from January through mid-April. Boats leave at 1 p.m. from Point Lookout Marina off Lido Boulevard. Tickets are $20 for adults, $17 for kids under 12 (group discounts available). Reservations required, 631-369-9840 or riverheadfoundation.org. Naturalists say they sometimes spot more seals when the weather is cold. The fishing boat has a heated cabin.
