The noisy neighbors

We have a noisy crew of Sea Lions, Sea Otters and Seals that congregate nightly on the raft in front of the house. They can make quite a racket that sound very strange in the dark of night (perhaps they are jockeying for position? or, is there some active romance occuring? or, are they just plotting the next day's territorial domination). Eventually, a couple of hours after dawn, they’ll disperse to look for food and nicer daylight accommodations. I was working up in the loft office VERY early on Friday and decided I’d try to snap a pic. I got the camera, crept my way down to the bulkhead and snapped away. They were quite curious of me, raising their heads (and flippers) and wiggling around for a better look. By my best count, I think there were 7 of the boys on the raft. It’s a bit amazing that old “Joe, Ken & Mickey built” raft is still floating, given the load.

The first photo gives a perspective of the raft; the second, a close-up of the gang; and, the third is moments after they had all dropped off.