Kites and Seals

A Waldport Adventure

Kate Halleron

The sky is overcast; yesterday’s rain grudgingly giving way to clouds and a warm, southerly breeze, a very pleasant day for January on the Oregon Coast. It’s a good day to combine two of my favorite things – kite-flying and beachcombing. My pocket parafoil kite is perfect for this – it’s so easy to fly that I can walk along looking at the ground without fear of my kite falling and hitting someone on the head, or worse. I unclip it, unfold it, and toss it into the air. It goes up easily, as light as milkweed.

I head northward, walking the pebble line. I find, with joy, an unbroken sand dollar. The waves are so rough here in Oregon that I have never found one of these in two years of beachcombing - just jigsaw puzzle ones. It’s small, not much larger than a quarter, but perfect. I tuck it into my pocket, which somehow always seem to fill with sand on these excursions. Not much else interesting in the pebble line. I enjoy the sight of my rainbow colored little kite dancing against the gray clouds - a little bit of joy.

As I approach the bay, the waves get calmer, and I am charmed by the sight of about a dozen harbor seals peeping up from the water. All of them seem to be looking at the same thing, and as I follow their eyes, I realize that it’s the kite they are so fascinated with. I stand on the shore, with my kite sailing out over the water, and some of the bolder seals swim over to investigate, one swimming quite near the shore, not more than three or four meters from me.

“Am I violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act?” I wonder. You can’t interfere with their natural behavior – seals are curious creatures, but could kite watching be considered “natural”? You also are not supposed to come within 50 meters, but are you in violation if they approach you? I ponder these points, but can come to no conclusion. I’m merely charmed and delighted, and so are the seals, apparently.

I walk along the bay until it’s time to go home, the seals still fascinated by the kite. On the way back to my car, I find an agate, yet another wonderful find on a wonderful day.