‘Quite a shock:’ Harbor seal tags along on Murrells Inlet kayak tour

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WBTW) — The marshes in Murrells Inlet are home to a variety of wildlife, but last week a group of kayakers saw something that seemed just a little out of place.

Mike Eady has been conducting Kayak tours with his company, Black River Outfitters, for 20 years. During that time, Eady said it the tours haven’t been without the occasional wildlife visitor.

“You see a lot of species of birds,” Eady said. “You also see some mammals out in the marsh, sometimes sea turtles, and every once in a while, we see the alligators that cross from Huntington Beach State Park.”

On Thursday, Eady was out on a tour when he and his group saw something unusual swimming toward them.

“We’re in a small creek cause the tide’s going out, and there’s not a lot of water,” Eady said. “And we see this funny little object floating in the water coming towards us. And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ I had 10 guests on my trip that day, [wondering] what is that? And then all of a sudden he stuck his head up, and we realized it was a seal.”

Eady said it was “quite a shock” to see a seal at such a distance away from the ocean.

“I was dumbfounded,” he said. “I couldn’t speak, I almost couldn’t find the words.”

Eady later identified the seal as a Harbor Seal. In a Facebook post, the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network said a sighting like this is rare this time of year but that South Carolina does fall at the southern end of its home range.

For Eady, this is the second time he has ever seen a seal away from the ocean.

“I’d seen one six, seven, eight years ago,” he said. “This one was also after a storm had passed. It hung out there on the jetties for three to four days before it took off.”

Eady said he was glad both he and his tour guests were able to have this experience.

“My folks [on the tour] were from Ohio, and they don’t usually get to see the salt marsh environment whatsoever,” Eady said. “We saw just about everything you could see on the tour. And for that to happen, that’s probably the best tour anyone could have ever been on.”

The Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network added that it’s important to give these creatures their space should one appear.