Swimming with the Sea Lions in Port Lincoln, South Australia

Swimming with the Sea Lions in Port Lincoln, South Australia

“Ready mate? Here they come- let’s get amongst it!”

FINALLY- it was time. I checked my mask, took a deep breath, and stepped off the back of the boat. The plunge took my breath away- not because of the temperature of the water, but because of the clarity. Air bubbles swirled around my face, blocking my vision as I sunk into Seal Cove- a small bay just outside of Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. My heart thumped, the adrenaline rushing through my system; I searched the sandy bottom, scanning the seafloor for the locals we had come so far to see. I had come to Port Lincoln for this moment, and was ready for the experience of a LIFETIME.

And then, there they were- a pod of Australian sea-lions, eagerly swimming out from the beach to meet us. We had seen them lolling on the sand, seemingly oblivious to our arrival, but had been assured that all we had to do was get in the water, and they’d come out to play. That’s EXACTLY what happened. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by these graceful beauties of the sea, twisting and turning here and there, rolling over and flipping upside down. I was shocked by their playful curiosity, with their unbounded boldness- they weren’t afraid of us at all, and seemed to almost be more interested in us than we were in them. Almost...

Port Lincoln is one of a VERY few places where you can swim with Australian sea-lions, and I had been wanting to do exactly that ever since visiting South Australia in 2009. I expected it to be an awesome wildlife encounter, and the reality of actually doing it was more than I could have imagined. It was INCREDIBLE- easily the most interactive wildlife encounter I have ever had- and that’s saying something. The sea lions wanted to PLAY- they wanted to chase us, only to effortlessly flip around and have us chase them. They were keen to show off their aqua-acrobatics, laughing at us clumsy humans looking awkward and ridiculous in our efforts to mimic their grace. They made us look BAD...

South Australia is such a unique place, with wildlife unlike anywhere else in the world, and swimming with the sea-lions of Port Lincoln was a totally ‘Australian’ experience. Nowhere else can you get so up-close and personal with such an amazing animal, and be brought face-to-face with ‘South Australia’ in such an amazing way... I miss them already.

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