These Harbor Seals were seen across the inlet of the marina at Moss Landing, California on another of our early morning beach excursions. It was fun to watch the seals slide into the water and then flop back up on the beach. Seals can often be heard or smelled before they are seen! There are differences between seals and sea lions --- seals have external ear flaps and they flop along when they exit the water; sea lions are the "circus seals", they have no external earflaps and they use their front flippers to get around out of the water.
We enjoyed watching this harbor seal as it swam around the rock. Another seal was sleeping on top of the rock. They are quite well camoflaged, so they can be a challenge to see.