Bachelor pad

I led a wildlife tour out on Cape Saunders this evening. Always a treat.

I often see lounging sea lion males on the beach. Inert fleshy blobs of sleeping seal. A shifting flipper, a yawn, a chance romp but often they are pretty docile. So, it was a treat to see all the commotion on the beach today.

This large dominant male recently returned from the prime breeding grounds in teh sub-antarctic islands. This is the homeland, so to speak, of these animals. Huge males fight and jockey for dominance to breed with females that haul out in dense colonies. Here in this far flung corner of their realm females are few and far in between. But these males are so hard wired to herd and breed they dominate the smaller males.

Hence a harem of bachelor males here. Like a Jane Goodall of sea life I am fascinated to observe the subtle, and at times, strange behaviors of the creatures here. Eye opening. Enough to make you pause. Aha...