Many eons ago (about 8 years), when we arrived in Sitka for the very first time, from various places, mostly the contiguous U.S., we did not quite know what to expect from this coastal fishing town. Working in a variety of jobs and living in a variety of places, we were soon finding ourselves drawn to the water; to the salmon streams, the bays near town, and the tiny islands just offshore. Friendly locals told us to visit mythical-sounding places like Magic Island, which we did. We used a motley collection of used gear, some of it from our parents, some of it gifted from friends, and more often than not we were swimming without some key part of the kit, like gloves or hoods. The cold invigorated us, though, as did as visions of the light in the water.

Over the years of swimming, fishing, and working, we learned many things: how to warm our hands after a long swim, how the kelp changes with the seasons,  the smells of leather stars and hooded nudibranch (garlic and watermelon!), to collect seaweed, the colors of the mating stripes of pipefish, how to eat uni, the curled up mating stance of an ochre star, the flights of sea angels, and, now, how to share with you. Slowly, our pile of shared gear became more refined, each of us able to have gear of our own.

Then, one dark fall evening, we found ourselves resonating with a child’s animated movie we saw, the Song of the Sea, featuring mythical creatures who transform from women into seals. We were familiar with the transformative feeling of zipping on our seal-suits and becoming a sea mammal with no neck and no fingers, comfortable in the water but awkward on land. We began using the word “selkie” to refer to each other, leading us to our first collaborative project: A small ecofeminist art zine called The Selkie Zine, which collects art and poetry under various themes. In 2022 we joined forces with an inspiring and handsome entrepreneur-slash-battery-engineer who taught us basic business skills and fronted the cost of a van in Seattle. Today we are refining our business, swimming during most of our days off, and keeping the dream alive by calling you in to join us. Thank you for swimming with us, selkies!