One of the main reasons of my trip to the Galapagos was to film these extraordinary creatures underwater: the Galapagos sea lions, one of the very few mammals species that are unique to the Galapagos Islands.
Somewhat clumsy on land, they are extremely agile and graceful in the water.
Galapagos sea lions inhabit most of the islands. In the inhabited islands they share their natural habitat with humans, still remaining a wild species. This is particularly evident in San Cristobal Island, in whose waters I filmed part of the footage showed in the video.
Being in the water with them is fascinating.
Bulls, clearly recognizable for their bulky build and the large bumps on their forehead are territorial. The alpha males are constantly patrolling the area where their colony is, swimming from side to side, and, as it is showed in the video, they some times come close to check out the situation as to say: “I am here, watch out”. And then they move on.
Females and young individuals are very playful. They would approach me with curiosity and swim around offering a beautiful show as if they were dancing in the water. Really graceful animals!
