Popeye!

There is a park at the top of the main dock, and a plaque that says it is Fairweather Park, named for a man whose last name was Fairweather.  But I call it 'Popeye's Park'.

There are some painted cedar posts, somewhat like Totems.

But the reason I call it Popeye's Park is because of the statue of Popeye, the resident harbor seal.

When I first saw this statue, I was upset, because only ONE of the eyes had a pearly inset.  I thought perhaps it had been vandalized.  It was only after we came in for the winter that we discovered that Popeye is a local celebrity, a real live seal that regularly visits the fuel dock and seafood store on the main dock here in Friday Harbor.  See a previous blog post for a video of Popeye (and that sunrise is worth another look too!) http://mvvikingstar.blogspot.com/2011/11/never-dull-moment.html

We have often seen a mama seal and a pup inside the breakwater, suspecting it was Popeye, but unable to get a good enough look to see the cloudy eye to confirm.  We asked at the fish dock and were told that Popeye DOES continue to visit the dock, regularly.

Well, today was the day we got to meet her!  The Pacific Northwest is at it's most gorgeous on a sunny holiday weekend, the day after a big storm, and we went out for breakfast and some Black Friday shopping (in Friday Harbor?  Absolutely no stress!), and on our way back to the boat, we saw that she was there, right in front of the fish store!

Waiting patiently for breakfast, she turned toward us when we called her name.  This close, we can CLEARLY see the clouded eye.

The fish store employee brings it out, and Popeye immediately consumes the first fillet.  The second she takes and dives.  We assume she took it to her pup?

She returns to the surface, and floats lazily, seeming to nap, just a bit.  She seems quite content.