Harbor Seal

Harbor Seal

You weren’t sure the tide had anything to do with it, but the moment the medallion gleamed on the slick rocks below the seawall, the waves began to syncopate—splash, hush, hush, splash—like a rehearsal beat.

You clambered down, stepping carefully over seaweed slick as eel skin. The bronze disc was nestled in a tide pool, half-covered in barnacles. You touched it.

A head popped out of the water. Round. Wet. Whiskered.

“Ah-ha! Finally tuned in to the right key!” he barked. “Took you long enough, you landlocked metronome!”

You blinked.

The seal waved a flipper like a conductor. “I’m Cadenza. Baritone. Third soloist in the Coastal Cacophony Chorale. Don’t let the whiskers fool you—I hit a low G sharp that’ll rattle your ribcage.”

He dipped underwater and spun before resurfacing, dramatically.

“I was doing warmups, but now—now I suppose we’re doing this. Fine. Tempo change. Fortissimo, please.”

You tried to ask, “Where do you think the medallions came from?”

But he was already answering, singing, spinning through the question.

“They fell from a cracked conch shell at the bottom of the sea, summoned by a note no human can hear. A harmony so pure the world trembled and hiccupped—poof! Medallions. All over the place. Except Antarctica. The penguins protested.”

He paused. Floated. Looked at you with big, sea-glass eyes.

“Or maybe they’re sheet music. Magical ones. Unlocking verses we mammals forgot. Honestly, I just read the rhythm. Let the whales handle the lyrics.”

You nodded, not quite understanding.

He brightened. “You should meet the beluga—calls herself Allegra, absolutely shattering on high notes. And the sea lion? Percussionist. Uses her flippers. Surprisingly nuanced.”

You started to ask something else, but he was already swimming backwards, humming an off-kilter melody.

“One last thing,” he said, voice trailing behind him. “If you ever hear the humpback’s solo during a foggy morning… don’t speak. Just listen.”

Then he was gone—one flip of a tail, and the cove was just waves and the whisper of a song you couldn’t quite catch.