I’ve been to Rosario Beach a couple times back when I was a student at Walla Walla. Fast-forward to this decade, and I’ve visited Whidbey Island for the first time. But I never realized they are that close to each other!
I also didn’t realize Rosario is more than a biology research station–it seems a public park has sprung up next door. There were cars everywhere. But since I’m used to parking between the cafeteria and the volleyball nets, I ignored the masses and found a nice spot in the usual place by the (what look like newly painted) cabins. And we headed for the beach!
We were walking down the beach when we saw some cones and caution tape blocking off an area. It looked like a dead seal.

But no! It’s a live seal! She was napping with her face in the water because it’s hot. Periodically she’d flipper some pebbles onto her back for sunscreen. The rangers were on-hand to prevent the crazed public from getting too close, so this photo is cut from a shot taken from much further away.

The rangers said that she’s a four-year-old elephant seal and that she always comes back to this beach for molting. (She even had her first pup on this beach last year.) So they want to keep the beach people-free to encourage her to come back.
Ko-kwal-alwoot, the maiden of Deception Pass who left her tribe to live in the sea. You can see her hair as the currents that run through Deception Pass.
Hiking the Rosario Beach hill.
The view from one side!
The view from the other side!
The view up the hill!
And the view on our way back.
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