So while at the marina yesterday, I happened to witness a strange thing — a flock of seagulls dive-bombing a sea lion that was trying to hold onto its fish.
This short battle included lots of splashing and thrashing. It seemed kind of cool, (I wish I had better shots) but I had a wide-angle attached. So I walked closer and the sea lion disappeared.
For the record: I’ve never seen a sea lion in person and know very little about them.
So when the thing surfaced again about 20 feet away and looked straight at me — I am a bit embarrassed to admit — it put the Fear in me.
I suddenly wished to know several facts:
-
How fast sea lions can swim.
-
How slow can I swim, fully-dressed.
-
How hard it is for a sea lion to launch up onto a dock and waddle toward me with its teeth shimmering like knives.
-
And whether, if need be, I could bludgeon a sea lion to death with a Nikon d1h.
Luckily I didn’t have to find out. It turned away and I snapped the one decent picture of the strange creature before departing.
You can stun anything up to 350 pounds with a D1H. If you’ve got a 70-200 on there, you can easily kill a cow or level a small town.
For the record:
“Sea lions can swim in burst speeds up to 25 mph, but generally cruise at approximately 11 mph. Sea lions gain speed by porpoising, gliding on the water’s surface to minimize resistance.”
- The Dolphin Research Center
http://www.dolphins.org/marineed_sealionfactsheet.php
And males can weigh from 600 to 800 pounds, far outmatching my 18-35 mm.
Remember the time at Manito Park when a hawk swooped down and flew off with a fish? The fish’s friend, the duck, when in hot pursuit of the hawk in order rescue it’s friend. It was quite a surprising sight and a little unbelievable at the time.
Glad you’ve expanded your knowledge of sea lions for your next encounter!
Oops! ‘when’ should be ‘went’.
Haha. No offense, but I don’t think a sea lion has ever struck me as an animal I should fear. Never crossed my mind. Also, sea “lion” is an incredible misnomer. It’s essentially just a damn seal.