It’s a Monday in January and this morning I went to play with sea lions with my school. We took our boats out to a sea lion colony. There were sea lions covering every rock and swimming around by our boats. The adults were mostly basking in the sun while the juveniles played around in the water. The adult males and females were the very big ones. The males were distinguishable by the bumps on their heads. Juveniles haven’t developed that distinction yet. We put on our wetsuits and snorkel gear. Our guides taught us how to be respectful and how to get the juveniles to play with us. We entered the deep blue water. The juveniles were playful, mimicking you when you rolled around or did a flip. Some liked to nibble on your arm just like a puppy would. The sea lions became obsessed with the rope attached to our life ring, tugging on it as we swam along. Amongst the lions were schools of many different types of colorful fish. We also, unfortunately, encountered the sting of tiny jellyfish. The curiosity of these playful animals was infectious as I became mesmerized by every critter that swam my way. The experience was otherworldly and by the time we got out it was only 11 am: we still had the whole day ahead of us.
– Caroline