Sunday, March 17, 2024

South Jersey is Beautiful

 Barnegat Lighthouse

Those of you who knew Junetta, may remember that one of Mom's favorite places was Long Beach Island (LBI); especially, Barnegat Lighthouse. We had not gone since we took her there on her birthday a long time ago (before Covid) when she was still with us. Mom has been gone 4 years already. RIP mom...We always think of her when we see 'ol Barney!

Harry and I went to the shore, with our cameras, in search of seals that were reported in the news to be all along the NJ coastline. There have been more sightings early this year due to the warmer weather. Young seal pups migrate to warmer waters from New England.

Well, we did not see any seals. It didn't matter. The weather was so nice; it felt so good to get outdoors! A LBI resident told us that they only had one seal sighting on the island. I'm thinking that it may be the one that was found entangled in plastic in Beach Haven. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center rescued the sickly pup last month. The problem of plastic is another story. If we had seen any seals of course, we would have kept a respectable distance of at least 100 feet per NOAA recommendations.

Having similar color tones as in seals, we watched other shore life that at first we thought were ducks. We're not bird experts, but they look like Brant - small sized geese that breed in Canada and overwinter along the New Jersey and New York coastlines. As with many species, they are in decline. Caring for the environment and our waterways has never been more important.

We watched the vegetarian Brant feeding on sea grasses and greens along the moss-covered rocks. 

Brant


Related Links

Atlantic Brant Research

Audubon Bird Guide - Brant

Seal and Sea Lion Week

Barnegat Bay Partnership

 
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