dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
After I had said goodbye to Godzilla, we grabbed our stuff and headed over towards the meeting point for our Sea Lion Interaction. On the way we stopped at one of the bars for some ice water. We then made our way over to the beach closest to the meeting point. We were the only people there. They had set up some chairs with beach umbrellas there and we made ourselves comfortable as we still had a bit of time until we were supposed to meet. The member of staff that had signed us up arrived shortly afterwards and bit by bit, the other participants arrived. There were supposed to be eight of us, but two changed their mind after checking in so there were only 6 of us in the end.
We had wondered where the Sea Lion Interaction would take place. We got the answer soon enough. We walked towards the dock and then had to go down a ladder attached to the dock to get into a small boat. I was not too impressed by this. I am not very good with ladders at the best of times and getting off the ladder into a small boat that was bobbing up and down was not my idea of fun. Fortunately this was the most difficult part of the exercise. The boat ride was about 5 minutes and at the other end we encountered a floating dock and a pool. In the pool were three sea lions.
As we approached the pool, one of the trainers came to welcome us. He told us a bit about the animals that they have there and particularly about Litibu, who we would be interacting with. Litibu is a 13 year old male South American Sea Lion from Uruguay. He came from their main dolphin swim facility in Nuevo Vallarta, but developed a skin condition. The water at the main facility is chlorinated and he reacted to this. The water in the pool at this facility is not chlorinated. The three sea lions living there also have access to the sea pretty much whenever they want. They only have to be in the pool when they are involved in an interaction and for security reasons at night.
The trainer explained that for the majority of the interaction, we would be out in the pool and Litibu would be swimming freely between us and looking for rubdowns. He encouraged us to stroke him whenever he comes up to us. We then entered the pool area and were asked to sit down on a ledge. Litibu came swimming by a few times and we were invited to touch him. After a while, the trainer invited us to get into the pool and spread out. Litibu started swimming in between us and was looking for rubdowns. It was amazing to have such a fairly unstructured interaction. At some point the trainer asked the family groups to get together. Litibu then performed various behaviours and the photographer took various photos. After this we had another short period of unstructured interaction and then we were called back to the ledge. Litibu showed off just how quick and powerful he is and then he came swimming by a couple more times so that we could touch him. Then it was time to say goodbye to Litibu. We left the pool area and got showered and dried off. Then we headed back to the boat. When we got back, a catamaran was docked and we just tied up at the back of the catamaran and got on at the back and walked through to the dock. That was a lot easier than navigating the ladder. We both had great fun during the Sea Lion Interaction.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/nGbuyu]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/npHifn]
We had wondered where the Sea Lion Interaction would take place. We got the answer soon enough. We walked towards the dock and then had to go down a ladder attached to the dock to get into a small boat. I was not too impressed by this. I am not very good with ladders at the best of times and getting off the ladder into a small boat that was bobbing up and down was not my idea of fun. Fortunately this was the most difficult part of the exercise. The boat ride was about 5 minutes and at the other end we encountered a floating dock and a pool. In the pool were three sea lions.
As we approached the pool, one of the trainers came to welcome us. He told us a bit about the animals that they have there and particularly about Litibu, who we would be interacting with. Litibu is a 13 year old male South American Sea Lion from Uruguay. He came from their main dolphin swim facility in Nuevo Vallarta, but developed a skin condition. The water at the main facility is chlorinated and he reacted to this. The water in the pool at this facility is not chlorinated. The three sea lions living there also have access to the sea pretty much whenever they want. They only have to be in the pool when they are involved in an interaction and for security reasons at night.
The trainer explained that for the majority of the interaction, we would be out in the pool and Litibu would be swimming freely between us and looking for rubdowns. He encouraged us to stroke him whenever he comes up to us. We then entered the pool area and were asked to sit down on a ledge. Litibu came swimming by a few times and we were invited to touch him. After a while, the trainer invited us to get into the pool and spread out. Litibu started swimming in between us and was looking for rubdowns. It was amazing to have such a fairly unstructured interaction. At some point the trainer asked the family groups to get together. Litibu then performed various behaviours and the photographer took various photos. After this we had another short period of unstructured interaction and then we were called back to the ledge. Litibu showed off just how quick and powerful he is and then he came swimming by a couple more times so that we could touch him. Then it was time to say goodbye to Litibu. We left the pool area and got showered and dried off. Then we headed back to the boat. When we got back, a catamaran was docked and we just tied up at the back of the catamaran and got on at the back and walked through to the dock. That was a lot easier than navigating the ladder. We both had great fun during the Sea Lion Interaction.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/nGbuyu]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/npHifn]
Litibu certainly was a character 
