October, 2024
Have you ever seen an alligator log? They are dangerous! Really dangerous! They eat boats four times their size, they swallow human beings in one gulp, they show no mercy, and they are amazingly fast, swift turning, diving, then coming straight back up right under your boat, right straight out of the water to smash your boat in half and eat you whole. Wow! Today, I saw one, oh my word!
Ok, I’m pulling your legs again. Ah, I am not an alligator log though, so I’m just pulling your legs and joking around with you. 🙂 But today I did see a log that looked somewhat like an alligator, and it was “swimming” in the water. Let me share this short little tale (tail?) with you folks.
From my campsite, I drove to a small parking lot, still inside this large campground, where I parked and then walked down this lovely path to a beach that was immediately west of the Deception Pass bridge. From the beach, I could look up and see the bridge. The photo above shows the lovely path down to the beach.
And the photo below shows the roof of a picnic shelter in the woods right next to the beach.
It was a small area, and so beautifully wooded.
You’ll see the Deception Pass bridge in a moment, but first here’s a photo looking west from the beach. That’s Deception Island out there. You can see the type of dangerous rock walls here, where a boat can be smashed to bits (really truly, not kidding here). If you take your boat through Deception Pass at the wrong time of tide/current, at a time when that tide/current is so strong, and waves are so big, the power of the water can shove your boat into one of those rocky points or a rock wall. But today, it was so calm, so peaceful, it was hard to imagine water that rough and dangerous.
Here’s the first of a few videos. You’ll see the alligator log right off the bat. But I pan to the right and follow the back-eddy current. The tide is actually going out, heading west (left), but there is a back-eddy right here, just off this beach such that the water swirls around and creates a current of water that heads east (to the right)! In the video, I zoom into the far shore so you can see the majority of the water flowing west (left).
In this second video, below, we explore the activities of the very dangerous alligator log. It seemed to be searching for something, or maybe just cruising around waiting for its prey, waiting for a meal! But watch the water to the left of the alligator log … see what happens at about time stamp :35 seconds. Then again, at about 1:15, something in the water splashed again, right in front of me. Ah ha!, watch the water over by that point of rock wall. As soon as that alligator log gets out of the way, I’ll zoom in for you and show you what all that splashing was about … a harbor seal, with a nice fat salmon in its mouth. 🙂 Depending on your internet connection, you might want to click on “watch on YouTube”. And be sure to enlarge the video so you see the details. Seeing that harbor seal sure was a wonderful surprise!
In the very short video below, that alligator log has finally caught the back-eddy current and is swimming along eastward. Seemed to me that log wanted to get somewhere, either back home to the east, to the forests where it came from … or maybe it wanted to head west, out to the Pacific Ocean to see the world. It felt to me like it did NOT want to be stuck in that little bay at that beach.
There were no other people on this beach while I was here. That’s one of the advantages of going camping during the week, and avoiding weekends. During the week, there are usually fewer people about so it’s quieter, photos/videos can be taken without the worry of other people being in them, etc. And, as you are seeing, the wildlife are more apt to appear. More to come!
So here’s the view of that point of rock again.
And here below is a closer look. Notice that dark black cave/hole.
Here below is a closer look at that dark black cave/hole.
And here, below, is the next video I took. Of course, I had no idea what was to come. I was just standing there taking a video of the water and the light sky and the beauty of it all.
River otters! Three of them. Seemed like mom and two teenagers. The one on the left was chowing down on some good food. Listen to them chirp. And then they all dove back into the water and headed back around that rock point. Wow, how special to get to see them!
AND, besides the otters, to see a fast speedboat coming through the pass just as the otters dove back into the water, that was cool for me. 🙂 If you didn’t notice the boat, it’s right about :37 seconds into the video above. Boy, is that boat moving fast!
On the other hand, when the boat got into the narrow part of Deception Pass, and the current was running outbound, westward, in the opposite direction that the boat was going, then the overall speed of that boat when measured against the land … the speed was greatly reduced! But the main reason I’m including the video below is because I could again hear the chirps of the river otters … they had come back around that rock point and were still here in this little bay. I liked that! 🙂
The video below is the last video for today. I was again just enjoying the views … the bridge, the rocks, the water, the sky, the sounds of the birds (and the otters). I zoomed in for a closer look at the water running through Deception Pass and the birds feeding on the fish there, and I just happened to find … the alligator log! It had caught … after so many tries … oh, at last it had caught the outbound current. Oh that felt good. It spun around, I think to face the woods it had come from to give thanks to them. And then it went on its journey out towards the Pacific Ocean to see the world.
What an amazing afternoon. What an amazing world. Little Towhee (in the photo below) and I simply sat down on a log on the beach (not an alligator log!) and enjoyed the view for a bit longer and gave thanks for the world, our lives, and our loved ones … including harbor seals and otters and humans and towhee birds.
Then Little Towhee and I walked back up the path from that beach, jumped in the big white truck, and drove back to our campsite. Even at 4pm or so that afternoon, looking from the back of my trailer … the sky to the west was glorious.
Spectacular! Absolutely spectacular!
Thanks Jamie. 🙂
Wish we had alligator logs here in eastern WA, guess they are only in western WA and Puget Sound maybe? What a great story-teller you are. That was a heck of a lot of fun. 🙂 I wish that alligator log a wonderful journey.
Well, maybe alligator logs live in eastern Washington too, I don’t know. But I’d watch out for them if you are ever in a boat. 🙂
Yes, thanks Paul, I wish that alligator log a wonderful journey too. I truly do.
Wonderful! I love how you talk with all beings, all animals. And I love how you take such beautiful photos … technology! Yes, here’s to the alligator log on its journey. 🙂
Thanks Lisa. I kind of like how I do that too, tho I don’t know how I do it, just seems that it happens when I’m standing around loving the world. 🙂
You stand and watch, and miracles happen. I want to learn how to do that!
If I could teach that, I would, but I can’t. I really do just go places and stand or sit and love what’s around me. I don’t LOOK for things to happen or appear, I just am there. Keep at it, Olivia, life happens. 🙂
Ah, Olivia, miracles happen whether we learn to “do that” or not. Just stand and watch … stop … breathe … let go of the busy details of your life, let go. Have no expectations. Do not look for something special to happen. If you do, then it won’t. I’ve read your other comments here and they are delightful. Several times here, Ann said she wasn’t looking for anything unusual but just standing and watching the water and the sky, listening to the birds … that’s when we are truly listening … and that’s when we notice things that we wouldn’t otherwise. Nothing appears that wouldn’t already have appeared … it’s just that we then notice it. Look at the pebbles on the beach, look at them, wonder about them. Breathe. 🙂 You are delightful.
Thank you Mary of Makah, that helps me understand the process or the practice or the awareness. I guess “learn” isn’t the right word … maybe just be aware of what’s around me while understanding there is always more that I am not aware of, not seeing. When I slow down and stop my own busy mind, then I will be more aware of what’s around me. I’m already doing that, some, but I know there’s more. 🙂 Thank you.
Excellent. Indeed, don’t LOOK for things, just be. 🙂 They’ll come.
Oh Mary that was a really nice reply to Olivia. Thank you! Indeed, I have no expectations, no thoughts or even a hope that I’ll see “something”. I just go places and love the places I go. On the other hand, I suspect that wildlife does show up around me partly because I try to go to places where there are no other humans … so maybe the wildlife (eagles, otters, seals, alligator logs) are comfortable showing up. And, I’m almost always by myself so there is no talk, no chatter of humans. In the video below showing the otters, it shows them looking right at me … they knew I was there, but they still stayed there for a few moments. They probably wondered what that human was doing with a big black box in front of her face. Humans can be so weird. 🙂 Thanks Mary.
The harbor seal has a huge fish in its mouth … the otters are well fed … even that alligator log is fed by the water that carries it to the Pacific Ocean. What a rich environment. And what a fun blog post. Thank you! 🙂
Oh, nice thought Cindy. Thank you.
What an amazing visit with the Otters. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them. And those currents are amazing. Here we watch out for ‘alligator logs’ when canoeing. Logs will sink to the river bottom with one end pointing up but still a few inches under the surface. You really have to watch out for them.
I was mostly joking about the alligator log but yes indeed there are logs that do exactly what you say FG, here too … the heavy part sinks and the narrow part hangs around up near the surface just a few inches below the surface. Guess I better watch out what I’m joking about … real world stuff!
We see otters on the west coast quite a bit. I had to scare them away from one boat I owned so they didn’t climb aboard my boat!
Alligator logs! I never knew their name. On Puget Sound we get those same logs that you talk about, Furry Gnome. A log or tree trunk gets water logged and the heavy end sinks and the small end is still up near the surface of the water, call them “deadheads” here, really do, no joke. You smash into one of those with your boat and it really can do damage. But I enjoyed Ann’s story about the alligator logs doing those sorts of shenanigans on purpose and that they sometimes dive and sometimes swim on the surface. This was really fun. 🙂 Great seal and otter videos!
Yep, “deadheads”. I had just left the marina one day, years ago, heading north up Colvos Passage in Puget Sound, just cruising along at about 7 knots, not fast, in my boat named Pied Piper. I was so relaxed, the sun was shining, the water absolutely calm. I sighed, smiled, and sort of leaned out the window from my helm seat, looked at the surface of the water and saw … you guessed it … a deadhead just INCHES below the water and only about two feet away from the side of my boat. Holy smokes, had I been just 2-3 feet over to starboard, I would have smashed into that thing and the hull under the bow of my boat would have been smashed. In 19 years of boating, that’s the only time I’ve seen one, but it sure made a believer out of me. I’d forgotten the word “deadhead” but I sure remember it now. Thanks Rob.
Oh, and yes, alligator logs are real and they have brains and they do those things they do absolutely on purpose! 🙂 I have a bridge to sell you too. 🙂 Fun stuff, Rob.
Wow! Spectacular. We watch TV/internet videos but we sometimes don’t really believe everything we see. But you we believe. This was great! Please go stand and watch and listen all you want, we will simply wait for your videos. Thank you so much for sharing, it’s really appreciated.
Thank you Tim. That was a very nice comment. I sometimes think I might have to make something up for one of my blog posts, but there are so many extraordinary things in the world … people, animals, birds, the sky, trees, beaches, sunsets, clouds … that no one needs to make anything up to find cool things to see and to share. Warm wishes.
Wonderful video of the harbor seal and the otters, my gosh that was impressive. We’ve seen them too here up in the salt waters around our islands in British Columbia, Canada, just north of you. But we never seem able to even get a photo, much less a video. And the extremely dangerous, human devouring, alligator log … wow! 🙂 Ha! Good one, Ann. Thank you.
Janey
Seals and otters really do move fast, don’t they? Tho I had a momma river otter and her two babies show up on the dock where I kept my boat … and she just sat and stared at me, daring me to come closer. I opted NOT to go closer. Another boat owner and I just stood at a distance and talked and watched. Eventually she/they left, but she surely owned that dock for awhile and took her own sweet time about moving and leaving. We all have stories, don’t we? I bet you folks do too. I’m sure glad you’re here, Janey and Jim. Thank you!
Aligator logs can be frightening. Especially if you’re in the water and happen to be in water that could possibly really have aligators! I’ve been rethinking swiming when I’m down in AL as things get warmer. Aligators are now seen in my brother’s lake, and I know I’m not swimming there. At our lake I got bit last time I was in the water by a turtle that thought I was lunch. Haven’t been back in the water there since then either!
Wow, scary stuff, Dawn. I had no idea that alligators were expanding their territory, but it makes sense as the temperature of the earth and the air and the water changes … and as their food source moves too I bet. Bit by a turtle, ouch! Keep that doggy out of the water too, ok? 🙂 Hmm, does she swim at all? Can’t remember a blog post of yours where she did go in the water …. hmmm.