shark bait

on saturday old steak and me decided to drive down the coast looking for some south swell and protection from the south winds. we stopped to find refuge at a spot just north of california's largest seal rookery. we hiked down a sandy trail, through a reserve, then arrived to an empty beach. winds were favorable and the tide was low. old steak built adecided to wait a bit and see if maybe a little push wouldn't help. we walked south to some tide pools. the negative low striped the reefs naked and we found all sorts of fowl, crustaceans, fish, and invertebrates. old steak hollered at me from across one of the pools and told me to come have at something. "i need your opinion, to confirm if this is what i think it is." we rounded a small wind-blown bluff to the smell of rotting flesh. a large 6-7' seal was decomposing. there were two 12-15" shark bites, one on each side. the bites were clean and looked like someone had taken a bite out of jello. in the wounds we could see razor sharp gnashes from the teeth. we guessed the seal was attacked then swam in on a higher tide to find high dry ground. as we stared in awe at the size of the bites we noticed the waves getting a little more organized. when you see the photos of the waves you'll see why we paddled out. you would've too. or not.