Galapagos Sea Lions and Seals

This is Mike...
The Galapagos sea lions and seals were so cute that they deserve their own post. We spent two weeks in Galapagos spread out between two islands (Santa Cruz and Isabela islands) and a cruise between the outer islands. During our stay we were bombarded by the cutest images of these playful creatures. They laid around, played around, goofed off, pups followed you as if you were their mom, They swam right up to your dive mask to look into your pupils, the mommy seals and sea lions were perpetually exhausted, the alpha males barked at you from the shoreline. Ultimately, though, the seals and sea lions tugged on every one of your heart strings! Many a time, I swore I would not take another sea lion picture only to snap a dozen more. These critters are super cute and I am happy we got a chance to see them in their family colonies, on their terms, and in their homes.

This is Zoe (dictated by Zoe typed by daddy)
Seeing the baby sea lions drinking from their moms is so cute. One time, you could put a piece on paper between me and the sea lion. We saw some dead baby sea lions. Huh, they are so cute I wish they wouldn't die. They swim as fast as like a lightning bolt. It sounds like squeaking when they drink from their mom. It was really cool swimming with them too. We saw them chasing fish from the boat. It is really cool to see how fast they go. They are mostly sleeping at day and sleep at night, but stay up really late. They jumped on the small boats that we used to get to the islands. I can't think of anything else right now.

A sea lion horsing around in front of us

Sierra swimming with a sea lion at Kicker Rock 

Introducing herself to us

Getting a better angle of us

She is contemplating how she will mess with us :)

Elise with a sea lion

A face only a mother could love :)

A pup nursing at the pier

Sierra and Zoe loved the little ones

Sea lion poop (shown for scientific display only)

Sea lion diarrhea, must have been a bad fish (shown for kicks and giggles)

Cute and very young pup

A dead pup. Sad as this is, it helped us demonstrate the cycle of life and how natural selection works for our kids.

Family units played non-stop with one another.

The girls made such great connections with the animals. I am sure these connections will last for a lifetime.

The investigator checking us out.

A sea lion nipping at my fin to check it out (no damage at all to the fin)

A seal lion at the fish carving station in Puerto Ayora

The girls observing nursing from a great vantage point

The sea lions are rascals.

This pup chased or girls for some milk. The kids absolutely loved being chased by pups!

The seals and sea lions lounged everywhere.

You can see how close you had to walk next to them on the paths.

Sorry this bench is taken :)