It was exciting to see some display in the sky after a long wait with no signs of aurora. There were no attractive sunspots indicating any hope of auroras. Then the coronal hole appeared and all of a sudden alerts were on.

copyright SDO/AIA

As usual I went to a spot that seemed better in cloud clearance. This time hoping to get some reflections. But not only did I see some beautiful show of auroras, I met a new friend. Chasing auroras  meant sometime you meet people and become friends in the dark during night. This time it wasn’t just an ordinary friend.
It was a cute little seal.

I was very focused on one end of the aurora and as I shifted the lens slowly to the other end since I was trying to capture a sequence of shots to make a panorama (stitch photos together to make a panorama). Then I found something there relatively large in the dark.

Jumping out very quickly from the water with the tripod that half sank with the tide getting higher. It took me a moment to understand who was the owner of the shadow. It was a friendly seal. Very curios and adorable. Also very photogenic.

It was featured again on the top page of spaceweather.com together with the photos of the Proton Arc (Later found it was a even more rare phenomena called SAR Arc) and the peak beams of the night with the reflection I was after. Quite a lucky fun night.

For further information
http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=113392&PHPSESSID=c3osipmubpu3llr2lgerhn8e37