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tedshark

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Today I was diving along the pier at Monterey and before we got in the water we saw the seals playing out at the end but we went down and swam out.
next thing we know we are right under them and they are playing around some females and a large male and the male well he got in front of us and stop-ed starring at me and kinda hinting that we are not going any further so well he was my size at least if not a little longer I am 5'9" and we got the hint so we turned around.
Anyway it was more intense seeing this large male seal 3 feet away from me then seeing the sharks when I dove in Australia memorable experience.
Seals have bigger kahunas then sharks when it comes to facing humans and they cause less damage to humans.:14:
 
tedshark:
Today I was diving along the pier at Monterey and before we got in the water we saw the seals playing out at the end

Weren't they sea lions rather than seals?
 
Well I wanted to answer your question correctly but when I started doing some research about seals in did not know there were so many different kinds.
To me they are all seals and sea lions are the same thing until someone tells me the difference.
 
Sea lions have external ears and can rotate their hind limbs forward on land. Seals lack an external ear and have to move along like a caterpillar on land. Evolution of the groups is controversial, some link them closely with the walrus into one group the pinnipedia while at the other extreme are those who argue that the Sea Lion is a sea going canid (dog like), the seal is a sea going felid (cat like, having evolved from a giant otter-like creature) and the walrus is a sea going ursid (bear like).
 
tedshark:
Well I wanted to answer your question correctly but when I started doing some research about seals in did not know there were so many different kinds.
To me they are all seals and sea lions are the same thing until someone tells me the difference.

The ones that hang out at the end of the Breakwater in droves are sea lions.

Besides the differences Thalassmania pointed out, sea lions tend to be more slender in the head and neck, use their front flippers a lot when swimming, and like to zoom around very fast, sometimes blowing bubbles at you. I usually see them in a large group, although not always.
Seals are more chubby, and usually swim at a more leisurely pace, wriggling their whole body. The harbor seals I've seen in the area are usually solitary, although I've sometimes seen two or three in the same vicinity.

Whichever it was, they are both fascinating creatures, and underwater encounters with them are one of my favorite aspects of diving in California! :D
 
Point Lobos's Whaler Cove shore is having a whole bunch of harbor seals and their parents teaching them how to swim. One of them nearly drown me when I was swimming from the ramp the Beach hopper 2 and during the dive, scared the heck out of me. Looks like its that time again, wonder if the GWS will be come to gobble them up....
 
Sea lions are almost always out at the end of the Breakwater.
If you just swim to the end, then you will pretty reliably have an encounter.
Harbor seals are sometimes in the Breakwater area too but not that often, although they seem to be more common elsewhere.
 
Yes.... usually the Sea Lions will show up in groups and seals are usually solo... The Harbour seals will nudge and nibble on your fins trying to get some attention...
 
Sea Lions are brown with a pointed snout. Harbor seals are mottled gray and back with kind of a squarer snout.
 
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