Monday, October 09, 2006

 

sea lion pups

On many of the islands, the sea lions had recently given birth. Uncoordinated pups in loose skins were hidden all over the brush and between the rocks, always at a slight distance from the other sea lions. It takes a few weeks for them to build the fat that fills them out into a sleek sausage shape.

Although sea lions are capable of aggression, they are good-natured creatures in general. I think that the reason the youngest babies are sequestered from the others is simply that they are clumsy and small, while the other sea lions are--on land, at any rate--slightly less clumsy and extremely large.

A chatty sea lion choking out her strangled-vomit "hi!" call made the rounds of a sea lion beach and was brushed off by everyone. She wanted to talk; they wanted to sleep. At last she humphed and tried to settle by herself but seemed to find it unsatisfactory. While flopping around failing to get comfortable, however, she happened to notice one sea lion who hadn't rejected her yet, curled up in the rocks. The chatty sea lion yapped loudly and went barreling towards this potential new friend.

It was true that the potential new friend was not asleep. This was because she was watching her newborn pup.

When the loud sea lion came just one waddle too close, the mother lunged into action, barreling straight towards her visitor, barking short, dangerous yelps and snapping.

The chatty sea lion stopped, bemused. Perhaps she was too young to have had any pups herself. She gargled "hi!" a few more times, mournfully, and then flumped away again. A couple other females let her sleep next to them this time; now she was willing to be quiet.

The people on the beach, meanwhile, scattered hastily at the first lunge and kept a respectful distance. Although the mother had previously shown no discomfort, let alone interest, in our peering at her pup, we were reminded to useful effect that our squashability lay somewhere between that of a defenseless pup and a meaty adult sea lion.

Comments:
I have seen seals at a safe distance and recently calved cows go into hyperdrive protecting their newborns so I put these two experiences together and imagined myself there at the scene. It made me feel very squishable but quite happy to be able to see it all the same.
 
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