Sea Lions surprise lone kayaker

On a calm September day, with the water acting like a mirror, I was taking pics of boat's reflections at one of our fishing boat marinas.

Suddenly 3 sea lions came up, about 20 feet from my kayak, just to check me out. I didn't realize how surprised I was till I heard the quiver in my voice.

But it turned out to be fun, watching them as they watched me. So, later in September I decided to learn more about their behavior.

Every night after work, I would kayak out and study them at their pier in St Herman Harbor (also called Dog Salmon Harbor by some).

Here's a series of pics and videos as they swam around me, on their way our of the harbor to go hunting.



Do you realize that when they come out of the water to breath, their heads are as big a bear's; they stick up higher than my kayak....and they spray water out of their nose for 4 - 6 feet.

It was indeed fun....after I realized they were just playing with me.

P.S. The yellowish images were taken later that day, when they decided to give me a special "show". With the setting sun behind them, it was neat catching the drops of water as they jumped in and out of the water. At one point some had about 2/3rds of their body in the air; looked more like whales than sea lions. I never had seen them jump that high. I didn't get it all on film. Thought I had it on video, but I guess I didn't press the record button hard enough to start the camera. It's easy to mess up when so much is happening around you.

More about them another day.