DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020 125
I was still processing what had happened as our ship got
under way, heading back to port ahead of a building low-pressure
system. The storm tore across the gulf, whipping it to froth and
frenzy. By the time we made shore, we learned
that the sea ice had disintegrated beneath the
herd and the pups had been lost.
Our commitment to the seals did not end
after our story was published in 2014. The storm
had made my encounter with the mother seal
bittersweet and forced me to realize that we
were now facing a new truth—that the world
of ice was as fragile as a dream. The realizationinto the sea considering their first swim, and veterans gliding
about and exploring their new ocean world.
Despite the challenge of finding the herd, the assignment was
a photographic success, and it gifted me with a
life-changing moment. On our last day on the
ice, a mother seal swam to defend me from an
aggressive male seal as I floated respectfully near
her and her pup. The male nipped my ankles and
scrabbled over my back, pushing me below the
surface. She fought him off and then nudged
both her pup and me through the water and outNG of harm’s way.
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250 mi
250 kmQuébec
SourisCANADAATLANTIC OCEANQUÉBECPRINCE
EDWARD
ISLANDMagdalen Islands
(QUÉBEC)U.S.