Two sailors came across an unprecedented sight while out on the waters of the Pacific Northwest: two sea lions with nautical ambitions seemed to have taken over an unmanned vessel. The resulting footage went viral.
On Dec. 17, 2019, ex-professional soccer player Joshua Phillips was on a boat on Puget Sound, near Evergreen State College off the coast of Washington, when he noticed two fellow “sailors” on a similar vessel. However, they weren’t the usual seafaring locals.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.
As Phillips and his friend looked on, a pair of huge, opportunistic sea lions came into view, lounging on the deck of the unmanned boat and taking a rest from swimming in the water. The sight was so unexpected that Phillips whipped out his camera and started filming.
Phillips’s boat circles the sea lions’ own vessel for a few seconds as the human crew enjoys the peculiar sight. The sea lions, seemingly unperturbed, simply watch as the second boat circles them, shooting comic footage for posterity.
The owner of the sea lion-occupied vessel remains unknown. However, noticing once more how close the sea lions’ borrowed boat is to sinking, Phillips comments, “If that thing eats three more salmon, it’s done for!”
“The human is ending the natural space of the animals,” another user reflected, “so they occupy the places that naturally are and were theirs, even if it is someone’s ship.”
Females are considerably smaller, weighing in, on average, at 220 pounds (110 kg) and growing up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) in length.
California sea lions are renowned for their intelligence, playful nature, and characteristic “barking” noises. Males may be chocolate brown in color; females are lighter. Sea lions also sport whiskers and a “dog-like” face.
On Dec. 17, 2019, however, Joshua Phillips and his friend caught two sea lions on camera trying a completely novel approach to relaxing at sea, and the results are entertaining millions.
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