Excerpt:

If it happens to be your first time taking a stroll on the Alameda Point Shoreline trail, the harbor seals lounging on the floating dock just offshore may not catch your eye if not for the man squinting out at them through the camera: Mark Klein, harbor seal monitor. Through the long lens of his Canon, one can get a closer look at the pinnipeds lounging on their new float, golden winter sunlight reflecting off the water and making their skin shimmer. The majority of the seals lie inert, taking advantage of the dry day to sun themselves, but there are also the fidgeters. These ones just can’t seem to lie still, jockeying for position among their compatriots who lazily lift their flippers to attempt to accommodate them and make more room on the floating platform, which appears to be near max capacity. Klein snaps photos, trying to make sure he gets shots which capture them all, so that he can count them on the computer later for his daily seal count.