Northwest Dive Club

Saw my first Sea Lions tonight, and of all places it was at redondo. I could not tell if they were friendly or telling us to leave, so we bailed after a quick dive. They greated us almost immediately and followed all the way to the carousel boat. Running into both of us. It was neat to see them, but man were they annoying.

Having done two Sea Lion dives at Hornby Island after about 15 minutes they become annoying to me. I don't drive hours, three ferries, and good money to get chewed and harassed by Sea Lions. Just not my thing. I am sure that Hornby Island Divers has some great dive sites besides these creatures.
If there are some coming into Redondo...then that is an odd occurrence.
Are you sure they were not Harbour Seals. Those like to follow the dive lights for feedings.
Kirsten

I am sure they were not seals. They were fun for a bit but then got annoying, we called the dive early just because neither of us knew their intentions. They are definitely not shy!

Sea lions are not uncommon at Redondo ... I've had several encounters with them there. But they do not tend to stick around, preferring a quick swim-by to check you out, or in the case of the more curious ones staying just far enough away so you can see them but not interact with them.

I've also had sea lion encounters at Les Davis, Three Tree, Cove 2 and some other local sites ... including an extended one on a trip to the Alki Fishing Reef with Brian and Jeanna a few years back ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INJSavd ... re=related

And I had a great experience with them last August out in Neah Bay, when we did a couple dives off of Tatoosh Island.

The Hornby Island sea lions are different in that you're visiting their rookery ... in effect, you're going to them rather than them coming to you. If sea lions aren't your thing, then Hornby isn't a good choice of locale for you during the winter months, as that's specifically why people go there ... to interact with them. If, on the other hand, interacting with sea lions is something you want to experience, I can't think of a better place to do it. We did four of our six dives with them on my recent trip there, and to my concern it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had underwater. Yes, they can be a bit intimidating ... but they're not trying to hurt you, they're just very large and playful.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Scubak wrote:Having done two Sea Lion dives at Hornby Island after about 15 minutes they become annoying to me. I don't drive hours, three ferries, and good money to get chewed and harassed by Sea Lions. Just not my thing. I am sure that Hornby Island Divers has some great dive sites besides these creatures.
If there are some coming into Redondo...then that is an odd occurrence.
Are you sure they were not Harbour Seals. Those like to follow the dive lights for feedings.
Kirsten

the more i watch Hornby Island videos and read the trip reports of the Sea Lions , the less im interested in experiencing that dive .... Some people love it , others dont , being chomped on, pushed, and in the thick of them can be very stressful , and also your drysuit having new holes from seals .... So I feel the same as scuba K.... But i still may go up and do it someday ..its on my bucket list

the seal I saw at redondo was a young harbour .. hunting perch with our lights, its very exciting to see a seal during a dive

Yeah, I've been seeing the harbor seal there at night too. Kinda creepy not knowing he's there when exploring the Black Pearl and look up and a face full of whiskers is starting back at you. The trio of harbors at Mukilteo like to do that at the deep boat.