In Reply to: Night dive with a big surprise posted by Rick_Coleman on February 18, 2013 at 18:05:16:

What fun to have a little passenger~ As soon as i saw him being deboarded i said out loud that he WILL be right back! The sea lion was a little skinny and needed a place to rest for a while.. He may have had a darn good reason to be out of the water :0

A small sea lion actually jumped into my skiff San Nicolas Island some years ago. I was resting just off the east end by the sandspit. I hear a huge thud against the hull and then a sea lion hits my rail. I look over just in time to come face to face with a frantic sea lion. He kept jumping up and i kept gently pushing him back. He finally gave up, but i found a tooth in the boat.. The other one actually got in the boat he was a little confused, i think he expected to land on top and not in the boat. He barked, i just talked him up and back over the side--i was sooo glad he didn't..... In a hundred thousand miles, the only time i have ever experienced sea lions coming in the boat has been in that very same spot, but years apart..

You did a really good thing bringing him away from there Rick! Great video to boot!