The day the herring spawned
Mobs of seagulls were everywhere today, all up and down the Gabriola coast. We could see at least a thousand birds at the beach, though there might have been more. They were in the sky, on the sand, on rocks off the beach, and in and out of the water.
The offshore rocks where seals usually sleep had been taken over by seventeen eagles. There were seals popping out of the water, then back in again. The star performer was one of the sea lions, who swam in the shallows just off the beach. It was a scene of grand and riotous chaos.
It was as if all these creatures had been hired by National Geographic to come and do their thing all at once for a special nature documentary or something. Incredible. Eye-popping. Magical.
I’ve never seen the beach like that before, and couldn’t imagine why all this was happening at once. The guy on the beach filled me in: The herring are spawning, he said, so there are tons of herring around. Everybody’s having a feast.
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