Are sea lions dangerous?

Yeah – like me, you’d probably need to Google that.

And even, like why?

Because Sass and I had had a close encounter with this one when we were at Robe over Christmas.

We were in the surf – without boards (I don’t recall why) – just leaping around in the waves when I thought I spotted someone on a board ‘out the back’. Then they disappeared.

A moment later ‘they’ reappeared and I realised it was an animal.

“Look Sass!’ I said, pointing. “It’s a seal!”

At a safe distance, the concept of being in the waves with a seal was kind of appealing.

And then it caught a wave, body surfing towards us like a torpedo. And I realised it was a heck of a lot bigger than a seal.

Sass and I were both wearing black wetsuits and the thought occurred to me that perhaps this brute thought we were a couple of females of the same species that he should check out.

At that point, I wondered if sea lions were dangerous. Having not Googled that before, I wasn’t sure, so decided panic was the best course of action.

“Sass! Run! Get out of the water!!” We waded as fast as we could through waist-deep water, eventually making it to the beach before our new friend.

 

This is a stock shot but you get the idea

This is the actual sea lion in question - Sass got a shot from the cliff

He did come onto the beach where we later noticed he had a flesh wound near his tail - maybe from a boat propeller, fishing line - or even a shark. He didn't say.

But back to the question; I did Google and it said sea lions aren't usually dangerous,  but they are very large, have sharp teeth and are wild animals.

Panic vindicated!