In Pictures

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His Grace Bishop Nikolai had a rare opportunity to see the seals up close. Terry Spraker, a veterinarian and professor at Colorado State U., invited His Grace to walk the catwalks above the seal rookery at Vostochni, about twenty minutes from the city of St. Paul. Donning a heavy rainsuit over his cassock, Vladyka got closer than most people ever get to a seal. He was able to witness Terry save a pup from making a wrong turn and going to the wrong mother, and got to see the territorial behavior of bull seals. Professor Terry has come to Alaska for the last 19 years to spend time in St. Paul researching the reasons for the decline in the fur seal poulation. There are currently about 800,000 seal on St. Paul Island, divided among eleven rookeries. Every year, the number of fur seal returning in to St. Paul Island decreased by five percent. Although incredibly interesting, one went away from this experience a little nervous -- if one were to fall off that rickety cat-walk there would be a high chance of being killed by a seal.

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