Seals and Sea Lions!

One of my goals for visiting the coast was to see Seals and Sea Lions! For those of you that live or have lived along the seaside may think I am crazy. I remember the look on the face of the Inn owner in Cape Cod where we stayed when I told him I wanted to find seals and to pay to go on a seal watching tour! Apparently they can be a bit of a nuisance to the locals. Me, I love them! They have such sweet faces and interesting personalities. OK - they can be a bit stinky and the sea lions on the noisy side but they are still sweet. And honestly, how often do you get to see these beautiful animals when you live inland unless you go to a zoo and I much prefer to see animals in their natural habitat. This was a real treat.

We saw seals along the shoreline at several points along the route but most notably at Yaquina Point just off Cobble Beach.

On our way down the coast, we decided to stop and see the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. Somehow we got misguided (not sure who was navigating at that point LOL) and ended up in the historic bayfront area. Why not take advantage of an opportunity? We stopped to see a bit of the area and have some lunch. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we could hear the racket - it sounded like dogs barking. We followed the sound to the wharf and there (amongst many onlookers) were many sea lions in the bay, sunning themselves on the dock and fighting for territory. We had lunch at the restaurant overlooking the sea lions (can't remember the name) - sitting outside on the patio - with a fabulous view of these gorgeous creatures. The highlight of my day!

In this photo, you can see the patio where we had lunch- the restaurant actually owns this pier and put the big steel cage in to use when the sea lions get fishing nets caught on their bodies. They can close them in the cage while they remove the net. You can see that the sea lions quite like the cage though. We had fun watching the two "guards" at the door. It was obviously an invitation only establishment!

 

The sea lions at Newport are the typical California Sea Lions that you hear about visiting the piers in San Francisco and along the California Coast.Notice the ear flaps in the photo to the left and the flippers in the photo to the right. These are the distinguishing features between seals and sea lions.

We did eventually find the Oregon Coast Aquarium and paid a visit there. They had seals as well but like I said, I much prefer to see them in the wild.

 

We continued on that evening and spent the night at the Best Western Pier Point Inn in Florence with the intention of visiting Sea Lion Caves the next day.

At one of our earlier destinations, a travel information attendant had told me not to bother with the caves - she said they would be empty at this time of year. Am I ever glad we didn't take her advice. It was a fabulous experience! And the caves were certainly not empty. The lighting was very poor in the cave and no flash allowed so the image quality is not great but you get the idea. You get to the cave via elevator (very cool) and it is very well set up with walkways and such within the cave. The experience itself was worth it. There is quite a stench though so definitely something you need to be prepared for.

Stellar Sea Lions are the dwellers of these caves and nearby rocky shores.

A few sea lion facts:

• warm blooded mammals that live in and around the sea feeding on mainly bottom fish such as skate, small sharks, squid, and various species of rock fish.
• pinnipeds - literally, feather footed. They have finlike members for propulsion.
• characterized by the presence of ear flaps, long front flippers, the ability to walk on all four flippers on land, and the lack of dense underfur;
• average size of 300 kg (660 lb) and 2.4 meters (8 ft) long;
• average lifespan is 17 years in the wild, and longer in captivity;
• by sealing their nose shut, they are able to stay underwater for up to 15 minutes;
• California Sea Lions - 188,000 - increasing population
• Stellar Sea Lions - 80,000 - decreasing population - considered an endangered species in the northern Pacific