spt29970
Contributor
Okay, now for some underwater pics. On our Alaska trip on the Nautilus Explorer, we dove about a half mile from a Stellar sea lion rookery. When these guys heard us splash, they sent out the welcoming party to investigate. Stellars are much like our California sea lions, but much, much, MUCH bigger. This is a baby and he is 300-400 pounds. At one point I had a big adult male come up and "roar" at me underwater. You don't so much hear, as feel an earthquake in your chest. I backed off in a hurry. Imagine a grizzly bear with fins!
The babies and females are so curious that they come and dive bomb the divers. They are so cute! But when they start "nipping" at your fins or drysuit you realize that they really are wild animals. The literally swim circles around the divers. The water was very turbid at this site so it is a bit eerie to see them zoom up out of the gloom. It also made the photography very challenging! Click on the photos for more details
The babies and females are so curious that they come and dive bomb the divers. They are so cute! But when they start "nipping" at your fins or drysuit you realize that they really are wild animals. The literally swim circles around the divers. The water was very turbid at this site so it is a bit eerie to see them zoom up out of the gloom. It also made the photography very challenging! Click on the photos for more details
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