SUMMER ADVENTURES - Episode 25 - MEDITERRANEAN MONK SEAL AND SOME OTHER COASTAL ATTRACTIONS

This photograph was taken once upon a time, early in the morning ... it's August 2016 ... and I saw the monk seal for the first time out of books, Internet or TV, alive n nature, in his habitat ... which was my habitat too... for most of the time during that summer ...

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... it was a great encounter with a very rare animal, one of those ... almost kind of sacred moments for me

... although I, of course, knew that the possibility of this encounter exists ... theoretically ... in my mind, I always envisioned the seals in some faraway parts of the world, connecting them with vast oceans or polar landscapes ... so to see one in one of these small bays in the Adriatic was a bit surreal, like seeing an Elephant on the moon ... and pretty unexpected.

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In this post ...

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... I'll show you some rocks, plants, and animals ...

... some moments of beauty ...

... from this coastline that I love very much ... and on which I spend a lot of my time ...

... the selection will be pretty random ... from this red starfish ( just temporarily in my hand, I brought her back where I found her very soon after this shot ) that has a bit of that ideological look ... like a symbol of a sunken Communist project of the country I was born in, and was here, in the same place where I'm standing now ...   

... to the small lizard peeking from the hole in the coastal rocks ...

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... from the landscape scenes ... 

... to the small details ... like these fossils in one of the small coastal caves.

I spent many of my summer days in those caves, here I'm with my little dog Bepina, she's very agile and expert in rock climbing ...

... these very small crickets ...

... one of a very few insect species that permanently inhabit this harsh habitat in the tidal zone ... 

... are also there for the company ... along with mosquitoes ... this caves are actually pretty uncomfortable and filled with hungry mosquitoes with a huge appetite ... but I like them nevertheless ... cause they give me that Robinson Crusoe feeling from some of my favorite books.

I'll put even a few black&white pictures here ... for atmosphere ... and a bigger visual diversity ...

... and because I like patchworks :D

This plant grows in circles near the sea ...

... attracting insects ... like this strange hairy wasp ...

... some very small ants are also feeding on those minuscule flowers ...

... and these lovely little caterpillars...

... when they feel threatened ...

... they become some sort of yellow branches ...

... meanwhile ... the green lacewing is drying on the rock ...

... I put her out of the water where she accidentally fell ... and now is getting ready to fly away ... to the nearby meadows ...

... and meanwhile ... somewhere near ... the brown-headed seagull is putting his feathers in order for a flight ...

Sometimes the light ... and wind .., can change the look of the sea dramatically ... here is a sign for the shallows that can be on the ways of the ships in the deeper water ... photographed on a windy day ...

... and here is the same thing in the evening ... on the same day ... photographed from the same position.

Occasionally you can come across some big driftwoods ...

... on one of the smaller ones ...

... I found these ants ...

... they were transporting some small beetle ...

... back on the rocks ...

... you can see another species of wasp ...

... building her nest in the chalkstone...

... and the seagull ...

... is still meticulously working on his feathers.

There are many cool things here.

Strange plants.

Lovely flowers.

Colorful rocks.

Crabs ...

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... various ...

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... species ...

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... of crabs ... and then ... you can see ... some lovely, translucent ...

... plastic bottles :D ... and now ... you may think - ok, it's time for a little ecological rant involving the evergrowing amount of plastic stuff on the planet ... well, the answer is kind of - yes and no ... yes, of course, the plastic is a serious problem and a recipe for a sad and catastrophic future.... but ... this particular piece of plastic ... this irresponsibly thrown bottle has actually found its place ... in this place ... because now... temporarily at least ...

... is a home ...

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... for a little wasp colony ...

... their nest ...

... looks ...

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... like ...

... some sort ...

... of a message in a bottle ...

... and it was great fun ...

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... to photograph the wasps ...

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... through a veil of plastic ...

... the scene looked kind of poetic.

And now ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vaztlcH3gg

... for a change ... let's take a look at some cormorants ... in the midday sun ...

... and some monochrome pictures ...

... of the rocks and the sea.

Sometimes at the end of August, you can find young birds hiding in the grass near the sea, they are not experienced in the air and on windy days they won't fly away if you come close ... and here is a little video where you can see one of those birds better ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yJZp4uFB44

Another typical coastal plant ...

... and a young mantis on it...

... and on the following few pictures ...

... is a hidden butterfly ...

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... camouflaged on the rock.

Another ... much smaller butterfly ... on the dry immortelle plant.

Sometimes you can find interesting creatures under the stones in the shallows ...

... like this strange mollusk that looks a bit like a roly-poly.

Another mollusk ... a little abalone ...

... you can see a bit of him while hi's moving ... slowly ...

... but for a better look, I put him for a moment in this position ... an interesting little alien ...

... and here is a little sea worm.

Meanwhile ...

... the cormorant is drying his wings ...

... and some small bird is resting for a moment on the rock.

A hidden moth on the same rock.

Salt formations in the tidal pool.

Some cool looking rocks.

White egrets also visit the tidal pools from time to time.

Another lovely flower.

Another lovely plant and a clear blue sky.

A ray of light above the sea ... looks like someone is being teleported ... maybe Mr. Spock.

A strange circle in the sea ... made by sea currents ... different water temperatures ... some fish movements ... or something else ... aliens maybe ...

A typical blue summer view.

Some minerals.

A view from the cave.

Some strange rock psychedelic formations ... like alien eyes looking at your every move.

A sea snail ... very common ... and very edible ... delicious actually ...

A strange little plant.

Sometimes ...

... even in summer ...

... some pretty strong winds are visiting the place ...

... bringing the big waves ...

... and a lot of foam ...

... a great atmosphere.

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And now ...

... with a few more coastal shots ( on this one are some good friends of mine ) 

... of rocks&sea ...

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... and the last look ...

... at the sleepy seal ...

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... it's time to end this little summer adventure... THE END.

( As always in these posts on Steemit, all the photographs, GIFs and videos, are my work )