Galapagos – Seals – Sea Lions – Travelogue 1
With our motor boat we reach a place where our guide suspects larger colonies of seals and sea lions. We can only get to the landing sites and the beach with our small dinghy.
The sea lions can hardly be distinguished from the dark lava stones in the surf. Fur seals are smaller than sea lions and come from Antarctic coastal areas. For centuries they were hunted for their valuable, dense fur, which is why they are found far less frequently than the sea lions. Not so long ago, the animals were literally slaughtered. Today, the population has recovered. About 40,000 animals now live on Galápagos.
In the midday sun, the seals treat themselves to a nap, but not without having oiled themselves well beforehand… of course with a thick layer of sand. Our guide tries to make contact with the seals. The animals are curious and playful.
For the larger sea lions, however, a greater distance is required. You never know how they are in a good mood. To avoid the danger of overheating, the animals usually stay on rocky coasts, where they find enough shady places to lie between the lava blocks. There are often quarrels between the females about the safest and most shady places for themselves and their young. The cub is sucked by its mother for up to two years. Nevertheless, the female can give birth to a young again after just one year. However, it usually has to starve, because only the strongest females are able to feed two young. The second cub represents a biological reserve, and is only raised when the firstborn dies.
The contact seems to succeed, at least our guide is accepted and not attacked. But we don’t dare to imitate him and stay at a short distance from him. However, we should get even closer contact with the seals during the subsequent snorkeling and free day. They cut a much better figure in the water than on land. They swim around us from all directions, from the side, from above and below….nudging us and inviting us to play. That was an experience of a special kind.
The pack leader always has a watchful eye ready. The interplay of life and death is always within reach. Never before have we felt this more strongly than in these places, where man has not yet intervened with his organizations. In the short, quiet moments of reflection, one becomes aware of the finiteness of one’s own being.
