DANCES WITH SEALIONS

As the boat arrived at the craggy rocks that poked out of the sea at Los Islotes I could hear the sealions honking and calling loudly from their rocky perches. I had never seen sealions before and to see them at such close quarters was truly amazing. The big ones were VERY big but it was the younger ones that were so wonderful. The baby sealions were especially sweet-faced and appealing. I was so enthralled with the sealions that I forgot about the dive until the divemaster announced that it was time to get ready, so, donning my dive gear and getting into the warm water, I began the dive.

I buddied with the divemaster and we began our descent. After a short time we were surrounded by the largest school of fish I have ever seen, swimming all around us. Silver fins flicked passed me and silver eyes watched me. In time the school of fish passed by, but bigger and better treats were yet to come! Out of the corner of my eye I saw a sealion jetting down from the surface. I thought that if I turned around and somersaulted with it, like a playful pup, it might be more interested. It worked! More interested it certainly was and my sealion partner and I together began a kind of dance. It took a liking to my long red hair and had a quick nibble. Having discovered my hair was not some form of tasty seaweed its curiosity got the better of it and it decided to try something else.

The divemaster handed me some gloves and I put them on and moved my hand towards the mouth of the sealion. It gripped on with its teeth, gently but determinedly investigating. Time and air dictated that we had to complete the rest of the dive and, as we swam towards the dive boat, yet more sealions slithered off the rocks and came out to play, swirling and tumbling round each other, whizzing over my head leaving thin streams of bubbles popping around my ears.

I loved every minute of it and in the end I had to gently push the sealions away. As we got shallower the sealions dispersed, all except for one which continued to find fun in playing with my depth gauge, its large, shiny friendly eyes looking up at me as if to say "Don't go. I'm having fun." But we

did have to leave and as we got back on the boat we could see sun bathing sealions stretched out on the rocks, rolling over sleepily in the heat of the midday sun, the younger ones slightly more playful. Looking back over my shoulder, I found it was me saying, "I don't want to go. I'm having fun." I will certainly be back!

(Written by Rachel after a visit to The Cortez Club, La Paz, Baja California, Mexico.) Current Holidays to THE SEA OF CORTEZ, BAJA CALIFORNIA: 2005

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