Monday, April 27, 2009

Sea Lion off Spit

These California sea lions were napping in the warm surface water in Monterey Bay.


We've been seeing a Stellar's sea lion off the end of the Spit over the past month. He first popped up while we were paddling in our kayaks about a quarter mile out. These thousand pound mammals are curious and can stay underwater for long periods of time so they can really surprise you by appearing right next to you with no notice. They have a large head which looks a lot like a bear.


Since that first sighting we have seen what we think is the same sea lion catching large fish right off the shore. Groups of sea gulls circle and dive on him to get little pieces of fish as the sea lion quickly chews them up.






This shot caught the sea lion catching his breath between dives...he bobbed up and down for a few minutes and would exhale loudly when he came up and then grab another breath.

We were able to get pretty close to a sea otter in California and film him eating clams off his belly. In this clip he shows us how he opens clams by beating them on a rock...