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by Veronica Forand
This is a picture of a seal. Actually, it’s an attempt by me to immortalize the seal in a photograph. I failed. Seals are tricky. They evade the camera as much as they evade capture from the great white sharks circling the area.
I stayed calm and waited for the exact right moment. Patience is my middle name, after Delusional and Quirky. The dark blob of the ocean floated toward the boat. And I waited. The seal lifted his head above the water, winked, and then descended before I had a chance to shoot it. IPhones are not made for action shots. 
Everyone else on the boat returned to their seats. Not me. I stayed in the bow and watched, waited, swore a few times, and kept tapping the screen of my phone to prevent it from shutting down.
“Come on you slippery little mammal. One shot. Is that so much to ask?”
The boat started motoring away and I dropped my head in defeat, wiping a tear from my eye. On the horizon, the floating rodent popped up and, if the engine on the boat hadn’t created background noise, I would have heard the seal’s laughter.
But I had the last laugh. I hit the camera button and shot the mocking beast.
Don’t mess with me. I always get my man (or seal).
Next time, I’m taking a video. They can’t hold their breath forever.