Sea Lions

California Sea Lion -- Moss Landing, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

It wasn't all that long ago that sea lions had no presence at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.  One day they just showed up and took over a few docks and they've never left.  They've become yet another San Francisco tourist attraction.  The same thing happened here at Moss Landing, except for the tourist attraction part.  This picture is of a dock near the Highway 1 bridge taken a few years ago.  Today the dock is fenced off so the sea lions can't get on it.  I kind of miss them but they were definitely intimidating to paddle past on a kayak.  This new fencing reminds me of certain "No Loitering" signs I've seen posted in shopping malls to ward off teenagers.  Build a mall and teenagers will come.  Build a dock in a sheltered cove along the Pacific Coast and the sea lions will come.  Better to celebrate than complain in both cases, I'd say.

You can see one of the sea lions has something stuck around her neck.  Unfortunately that's a fairly common sight.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 128, image #0067.