It was yet another misty day on Skye. Brandon and I had half a day off and had tried to hitchhike to Saint Columba’s Isle. No one stopped for us, so we had to give up after a while as we didn’t want to be late for work. Instead, we headed towards the beach in Portree, intending to walk the Scorrybreac Circuit. But we never got that far as we saw that the tide was low enough to access a tiny tidal island, Black Rock. We had tried before to reach the island, but had to give up each time due to high tide. This was an opportunity we simply couldn’t miss!
It was an extremely slippery walk over black rocks, seaweed and hundreds of shells with only a few grassy spots on the actual island. As soon as we got onto the island, Brandon spotted a seal and called me over. It was so close to us! The little darling just sat there, staring at us, as we walked closer and closer, as close as we felt was okay. We were about 2-3 meters away from the seal when she casually dived into the water. She seemed quite curious to begin with, but I think we got a bit too close after all. It wasn’t long until she popped her little head up over the water, looking to see if we had left her spot.
As we continued to the end of the small island, we spotted her again near the tip, but she must have seen that we had left her spot as she went immediately back to it. And sure enough, when we returned from the tip of the island, there she was. We had no other way to get down than to go past her spot, and unfortunately she left us again, back into the water. I’m sure she’s back there again now though!
I’m so happy that we didn’t make it to Saint Colomba’s Isle that day as we would’ve missed this wonderful encounter. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve been so close to a seal when not in a boat! And can you believe it, it was just a short walk from my home in Portree!
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