Posted by Brad on February 27, 2001 at 13:54:51:
In Reply to: Sea Lion attacks continue unabated at Santa Cruz!!! posted by mike on February 26, 2001 at 22:38:28:
Seals and sea lions are delightful! They are different like dogs and cats. The sea lions dart around playfully like a dog while the seals move very slowly and deliberately never taking their eyes off you, sort of like a cat. I suspect that the seals are more deliberate in their actions because they have the ability to articulate the didgets on their forefins, but thats just my speculation.
I had an interesting encounter with seals last summer at San Clemente Island. It was a particularly nice day and i was able to get my skiff way back into a cove that normally is too washed out to approach. Before i got in the water there were a few seals fighting and playing, i didn't think much of it. As soon as i got in the water they followed me everywhere. Every grotto i swam through, they would in turn swim through. The dominant male soon began to stalk me. I would move, he would move, never taking his gaze off me, never getting more than 15ft away. At one point i was about a 100yards from the skiff and he was on my every move, that was a little disconcerting. At one point he grabbed my fin, another time i came up and didn't see him. When i turned around, he was right in my face! I had been with them for about an hour and was out of film at the time so i decided to move to another area and allow them to be amongst eachother.
This is my first visit to this message board. I was wondering if there were any picture takers here. I freedive with my camera, and don't really know anyone else who dives. I thought it would be nice to meet other photographers.
Sincerely, Brad