A Stellar's Sea Lion on Anacapa Island

We saw part of the back of Anacapa Island on the trip back to port. We traveled around the famous arch:

 And even closer to the Arch on our way around it:

To the far side of the island, where we observed some seals and one lone Stellar Sea Lion lounging on the rocks. He was huge: the captain said probably around 800 pounds. More than my Pearl press! Stellars are known for being shy, and this one was no exception.

 As we passed by, he lumbered to the water's edge.

 With an 800 pound splash, he was gone.

 I could see his head above the water as he swam away.

To see him well, double click on the pics to biggify them!

Further afield

Took a nice boat trip to Anacapa Island yesterday. That makes two Islands for me. I'd like to be able to go to each one, just to say I did.

DO biggify this one. I'm proud of it.

But here is a pic of a Giant Coreopsis and, err, passenger. It is mating season among the Western Gulls and they were all over the island, staking out territory and defending it from others.  They seem to love to sit atop the flower clusters of the Coreopsis.

It was a lovely day of exploring the small island, enjoying its plants and observing the many nesting gulls and brown pelicans. I found out it's the largest pelican breeding ground on this coast!

Territorial argument

 Paired up