Many a trip aboard my charter boat, WaveWalker, begins with slowly circling the channel buoys outside the Santa Barbara Harbor to give everyone a chuckle at the antics of California sea lions.
Most of the time there are enough of them up on the buoy to pretty much take up all the space. More are swimming about nearby, waiting for an opportunity to take a spot on the buoy for themselves so they can haul out, warm up, dry out and snooze. Sometimes the snoozers look so relaxed they risk melting.
It’s funny when their repose is in a position that their snout is hanging down near the water and when a large wave washes up higher on the buoy, the critter’s snout gets wet and the animal jumps like it was startled. It is also funny when one decides there may be just barely enough room to join the crowd, then carefully times a swell and makes the jump with the aid of the swell and lands in the midst of a bunch of warm, dry sea lions who do not appreciate the cold and wet intruder.
Oh, they complain vociferously and people get a good laugh at the moment in the social lives of our coastal critters.
One thing that amazes me personally is how a sea lion can hang out for hours, right next to the clanging bell on the red and white channel buoys. Man, that thing would give me a five-star headache in the first 15 minutes.
Every once in awhile we cruise out of the harbor toward the buoys, look around and discover that there isn’t a sea lion in sight. That’s when we start shark-watching, instead. Those sea lions have their ways of communicating, and they can all go poof in a hot second.
I’ve seen the same scenario play out at the Channel Islands. We’ve been boiler rock bassing for calico bass up close to the island and seeing literally thousands of sea lions and other pinnipeds. Then all of a sudden someone notices that they are gone. And I mean gone! In about a minute, they can all take off for tall timber. That’s when we start telling shark stories.
My least favorite part of hanging out with sea lions is when they come to our fishing boat to hang out with us, while we are fishing. They are not there to visit. We don’t allow people to feed them because it is really bad training and sets a bad precedent. But those critters know that we use bait and that we bring in fish. The law does allow us to defend our gear and our catch, but the list of allowed actions we can take are ineffectual. So mostly we leave or try to deal with it.
I recall one lady who wanted to feed them at the buoy in the morning. I wouldn’t let her and she was quite disappointed. Later, she had a nice fat salmon on her line and was bringing it to the boat when a sea lion grabbed it and stole it off her hook. Suddenly she wanted me to shoot the critter. I smiled and calmly reminded her that earlier she wanted to feed it, which she finally just got a chance to do!
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
