Not the day I had planned....

Ever had one of those days that just didn't turn out like you had planned??? Today was one of those days. My intentions were to go and survey a couple nearby beaches for seals and look for sea glass. I thought I'll only be gone a short while because the past two days I've done this trek I've been "skunked" in the seal department. I loaded up a small day pack and headed to the beach. Little did I know I would find this cutie when I popped out on the first beach. They just make me smile!!

 This is 4DD, the little male seal that arrived on Kauai 3 weeks ago.

 We've been searching for him for the past 2 days.

 

 He was just having a nice snooze on the beach. I set up SPZ (seal protection zone) and proceeded to do some outreach and some beach cleanup.

It's only 1:30 p.m. and I realize I could be "seal sitting" until dark. It would give me time to experiment with my new camera--that's cool. 

 At 3p.m. he began to stir with the rising tide.

 

 

He rolled around in the water like a playful puppy.

 

 or maybe he'll just go back to sleep...

 

nope, it was time to hit the water... and away he went.

 

Now seal sitting was fun, but the real adventure began after 4DD left the area. I met some new friends while doing seal education. This is the part that was totally unplanned. Meet Jennifer, Reed and Van(pictured below).They are vacationing here from Seattle. Reed squealed with excitement watching the small seal play at the waters edge and I loved witnessing his enthusiasm. Once the seal left I asked if they would like to hike to 2 other coves to see if we could find our little seal again. The three them were eager to see the "wild" side of Kauai. You know, places where most tourists don't go. What adventurers they are and get this, they had just gotten off the plane not two hours prior to our meeting and now they were hiking Kauai with me!! 

Unfortunately we didn't find anymore seals, but we had a delightful time exchanging stories and exploring. Reed told me when we said our alohas that this was just the BEST day ever.

Now that made me smile....a totally unplanned encounter, meeting new friends, sharing my love of the Hawaiian monk seal and the island. Yep, I'd say it was a pretty good day.

 

Just want to give a shout out to this fun family. I hope that our paths will cross again one day.

You guys made my day!!

 

Jennifer, Reed and Van

Kauai's newest seal fans!!

 

Coincidence or divine encounter!?!?!