There and Back Again

Disposition: Impressed by retired General Wesley Clarks’s 30-second video in this afternoon’s Rock the Vote.
Listening: This is Alice Music, Vol. 7
Reading: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Watching: 24
Obsessing: Sir Ian McKellen
Pondering: The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit. (Mark Twain)

A few nights back there was nothing to watch on TV but this feature on animal mating style in one of the local independent channels. The segment I watched was on seals. I was curious about the topic because Pier 39 - a staple for tourists visiting San Francisco - is infested by seals. They’ve overpopulated the pier and is slowly becoming, if not yet, a cause for sore eyes. I also watched partly because my one and only stuffed toy and the only stuffed toy I ever owned is a seal named Marcus.

Anyway, apparently in a community of seals there is always what you would call the Master of the Beach. He’s the big daddy, you might say and the heaviest, I suppose because the one in the footage was huge! I believe the Master becomes the master because he’s the one who’s most effective in finding food for the flock. He’s the meanest, most ruthless seal in the bunch and as a reward for such power, he gets all the ladies! Yeah, he quietly moves around all of them lady seals and mates with whoever he feels like mating with. (Worth mentioning: They say female seals literally become pregnant just a few minutes after giving birth. Gasp!) So, with the Master around, there’s really nothing left for other male seals to do but to watch from afar and wait - and pray - for the day the Master is general no more so that one of them can rise up to the ranks and have their way among the ladies. (Worth Mentioning #2: Most male seals spend their lives watching from afar and just die watching.)

And because it was about animal’s mating practices, of course they showed the Master mating with a much, much smaller seal. After which the Master, tired and weary, retreats to a corner to regain his energy. This is when one of the “loser” male seals who can only watch from afar, decide that maybe, it was time to make a move on one of the female seals because the Master’s tired and is not paying attention.

Slowly he moves towards the flock of female seals, his eye on the prize. But his goal of going unnoticed fails as the Master immediately recognizes what he’s thinking about doing. Master threatens him with a loud growl — or something like a cross between a growl and the sound one makes when choking. He growls back at the Master. Hey, he’s not afraid. He’s ready to take over and dethrone the big daddy. They advance, growling all the time, and then slam their big, disgusting bodies against each other and scratch with their fangs, teeth, whatever they’re called as they try and push each other off balance into the ocean. The seal left standing at the end of the fight wins, kind of like sumo-wrestling.

In the end, the Master was defeated and there was a new king on the beach. The defeated seal retreats from the flock, swims in the ocean a bit and disappears into the sunset, probably to reappear later as a member of the loser group who can only watch the new king’s party from afar. Proof positive of the old saying, all good things must come to an end.