This weekend, Derek and I spent a night in Kennebunkport, in a room in an old sea captain’s home (built with money from the slave trade, sadly.) The houses that perch on this rocky coastline are magnificent and jaw-dropping and a tremendous display of wealth and privilege. We felt as if we had landed on another planet. I’ll take Millinocket over Kennebunkport any day of the week. But we were glad to experience these communities and visit Kennebunk Beach and Goose Rocks Beach. The photo here is a distant shot of the seals at Goose Rocks Beach. I took this shot as I was leaving. After a brief visit at Kennebunk Beach, we drove about 15 minutes to Goose Rocks Beach. Access to this beach is from a public road, through a short trail that cuts between private homes. A barking dog scolds as you pass by, and signs on wooden fencing promise to cut your bike lock without warning if you have the audacity to peddle to the beach and hook your bike to a rich man’s private fence. The rock retaining wall in front of the house with the barking dog has its own signage to warn beach goers to stay OFF the retaining wall, as it too is private property. Public access to Goose Rocks Beach has been in the courts for several years, with 28 private land owners arguing that the public had no right to use the beach. Maine’s Supreme Court finally decided that the public can cut through that path and use the beach. I did not feel welcome. But I’m glad we went because this is where we saw the seals. It was mid-afternoon on Sunday, December 21, under gray skies, with temps in the teens. Spotted these two seals (and four others) about 200 yards off shore. The tide was out so I climbed onto some rocks for a better view. A loon swam slowly past the seals. With the zoom on my camera I was able to see that this guy appears to have some fresh wounds.To my amazement, once the smaller seal noticed me on top of a rock (in a red jacket), pointing a strange black object at the bleeding seal, she moved herself into position to cover his open wounds. And she wouldn’t rest or look away. I was clearly stressing her so I departed.This fat old fellow was out there too, blending in nicely with the rock. (Well, sort of.)This seal was enjoying a submerged rock. In the 15 minutes I was there taking photos the tide started coming in fast enough that he was partially submerged by the time I left.This seal kept alternating between looking at me (above) and ignoring me (below).
The Nature of Maine 