Sanderlings, seals, and porpoise

This is a video of a harbour porpoise near a boat on Grevelingen lake in the Netherlands.

This afternoon, all the way to the easternmost point of Schiermonnikoog.

This happened on the Eilander Balgexpres: a tractor with a bus behind it.

At first, the road from the village to the north, to the beach. A group of pheasants.

Then, the tractor plus bus went along the beach, sometimes crossing low tide “rivers”.

Shelducks. Many lesser black-backed gulls. Herring gulls. Some black-headed gulls. Many sanderlings. Some oystercatchers.

At the end of our journey is the Eilanderbalg, the easternmost spot. About 20 common seals laying on a sandbank. Two seals are swimming and come quite close.

Sadly, a juvenile harbour porpoise laying dead on the beach. This is the smallest cetacean species of the North Sea. This youngster is only about 80 centimeter. Though it beached probably not very long ago, feeding gulls have already damaged it.

Caspian seal population declines 90% – Now endangered: here.

Caspian seal (Pusa caspica): here.