Harp Seal: A mother and child reunion....

D1X/400F2.8/ iso 125 F11 1/500 FF-2


Hello NatureScapes

In early March I was very fortunate to be able to make a trip to the Magdelan Islands, Quebec, Canada. I left early in the morning from Minneapolis and arrived on the island, after four flights, at midnight the same day.

The following day, a snow squall developed and threatened to cancel the helicopter ride, 25-40miles out onto the ice flows. In our survival suits, we waited for two hours before the pilots made their final decision. It was a go!

The inclimate weather that day created some photographic challenges. The temperature on the ice was -8F, with a 30 mph wind. My lens hood literally filled up with snow that was flying by perpendicular to my shooting direction. I had chemical warmers in my boots and gloves. My D1x batteries lasted about 15 minutes each.

The harp seals leave their pups on the ice and enter the water to feed. The come back onto the ice to lay with their pups from time to time and of course to nurse. When they pop their heads out of the breathing holes in the ice, the pups will often call out to the adult seal. They almost always greet by touching noses, and probably identify each other largely by smell when out of water.

Although this picture suffers from loss of detail due to blowing snow, (clearly visible in the lower corners) I still like it because of the experience. I think the contrast between the tender interaction and the harsh weather makes this one of my favorites from the trip.

Although the wind died off the next four days and we made easy runs out onto the ice to photograph seals both in sunny and in overcast conditions, "snow storm day" was still my favorite day for making images of harp seals in the Gulf of the St Lawrence River on the ice near the Îles de la Madeleine.

Thanks for looking and any comments or suggestions you are willing to offer.