Guess what Jubin saw while running!

You might recall Kendra's "Running with the Cows" post from last fall. Well, last week, Jubin was out running on the tow path near the weir on the river, not even a half mile from our house and saw..........a SEAL! How cool is that?! We had been told that seals come up the River Lagan to forage near our house, but this was our first sighting. Here is a link to a map of the towpath - if you zoom in and move around, you can see where Jubin saw the seal. The blue pin in Stranmillis is very close to our house and he saw the seal between the Boat Club and the Sewage Works -- http://www.walkni.com/ulsterway/sections/lagan-towpath/#i.

There was a city worker sampling at the weir, so Jubin asked him how the seals manage the swim. He said that the seals can swim up the river by going under the weir - that there is a place for them to swim through it - and then they climb out of the river and go around the weir on the grass to get below it again. This situation is exactly what Jubin saw! He said that at first he thought he was noticing a big turtle on the grass river bank, but then it started moving really fast and he realized he was watching a seal climb out of the river and head around the weir!

A week later, Avril took Watson and Aimee down to the tow path to take a walk and feed the ducks. They saw another seal in the same place -- so cool! Of course, I have looked very carefully every single time I've been by that weir since we moved here in August and I have yet to see a seal...but, I am staying optimistic.

UPDATE on Feb 8, 2014 - We all went for a bike ride yesterday (did I mention that we got a toddler seat for the back of my bike for Jamie and that he LOVES riding around behind me?) and saw the seal again - yippee! And, we got to see her for quite a while. We might have even seen two (hard to tell) and at one point one was only about 12 feet from us popping its head out of the water. These are the grey seals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_seal), as compared to the common or harbor seals I've seen in the past around N America. Both species can be found here.

And, a couple cute pix of Jamie outside just for fun: