nonaraptor

The bird app has a lot of garbage but this thread really tickled me this morning:

So there's two species of sea lion in North America: the California sea lion, ranging along California (including Baja) but not ranging into the north coast or into oregon

Weird vagrant species happen from time to time, but this is just a particularly funny instance of a highly social species getting very lost, and just trying to blend in with its closest nearby relatives

He’s so large!!! Here’s an NYT article about him

a few years ago my friend was giving me boating lessons and then we got a call that one of our favorite killer whales (we'd never seen in-person) was nearby and then 2 minutes later we got a call from another friend that they were camping on an island nearby and one of my fav singers was randomly there having beers and we should boat over there and be really nonchalant and normal and have some beers. so my friends looked at me and was like, 'well, it's your call. the singer or the whale.' and for me it was a nothing-choice because obviously i was gonna choose the whale over beers with a stranger. like yes i'm deeply obsessed with their music but i don't know them at all as a person. i'm not missing this whale.

The whale is T087—Harbeson! He was born in (approx.) 1962, making him likely the oldest male killer whale of his subspecies, Bigg's Killer Whales (mammal eaters, also sometimes still called Transient Orcas)!

My resolution last year was to do one thing before bed that would make my morning feel easier, and that’s become a daily habit that I’m carrying into this new year.

I’ve been doing a lot of “a treat for future me” moments lately.