The Harbor Seals in Monterey County pup during April. During my recent explorations, I found a sheltered cove where the pups were learning to swim and hunt with their mothers. There were over a dozen pairs that were taking turns venturing into the water, then returning to the beach to nurse and rest. This pup must have done well after his recent excursion, because if you look closely, he's about to receive a kiss.

This shot was captured from a cliff above the beach where I could observe but not disturb the seals. I used a Canon 75-300 Image Stabilizer on a Digital Rebel XT in RAW mode. The ISO was 400 with a shutter speed of 1/750 @ f-9.5 with image stabilizer turned on. I handheld the shot at 300mm.

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