Why Is a Seal in Manhattan Like a Hundred Plus NDP Members of Parliament?

This gray seal decided to go sunbathing on an Upper Manhattan beach yesterday, causing quite a stir in New York. It apparently had braved the waters of the Hudson, looking for a good place to hang out.

Actually seals often do things like that: I remember seeing West Coast seals bagging some rays on piers off downtown San Diego, as well as in San Francisco and Seattle.

There's a political lesson in this, perhaps. When something unusual happens--like a major electoral change--it often isn't completely unknown. It just indicates that something is happening. In the case of the seal, it might be a harbinger of good news, reflecting much cleaner waters in the Hudson River. In the case of the surprise NDP showing sweeping to victory many young people and a record number of women, it could mean that the political scene is opening up.

At latest report, the seal was still there, looking healthy, BTW

Photo: The New York Times.