Sea Lion Snorkel

 


Today was my first experience with snorkeling, which might end up being hard to beat if I end up in the ocean again (likely).  

Faro Isla San Jorge was roughly an hour away by boat. After suiting up we had the pleasure of hopping in to the sea to snorkel with California Sea Lions. The water was incredibly clear and surprisingly warm. The silly sea lions had no fear of us and were happy to show off their twirls and leaps through the water. They seemed to be getting a good laugh at us as they stream lined straight for us, evading last minute to avoid any contact, a little game of chicken. 

These marine mammals are in the order Pinnipedia and are curious and playful. While the females congregate on the island in a harem, the area is protected and monitored by a territorial male. Today we got to experience this as the female and juvenile sea lions playfully swam alongside us and the male sea lions stood by and barked, occasionally swooping in to draw a territorial line of protective bubble streams between us and his ladies. 

While visiting, many of us noticed there were multiple sea lions who had scarring from entanglement in netting. These guys also had been tagged as a way to track who had been rescued and released. After our playful excursion in the sea with our new friends and reluctantly bidding them farewell, we participated in a survey of the sea lions for CEDO where we circled the island and counted the number of males, females, entangled individuals and pups.

We wrapped up the day with pizza, our first seafood free dinner of the week. I think most of us were happy to ditch crustaceans for a meal, but I’m willing to bet they’ll make a reappearance tomorrow evening. (:


Camryn, Whitney and Liza 



~Elizabeth Alvarado~




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