Puppies of the Ocean

The moment of truth - our first pack up was under time pressure and in the dark! We were required for us to get to our Sea Lion snorkelling tour on time which departed from Jurien Bay boat ramp at 7.30am.

We woke up at 6am, head torches on, to eat a small breakfast followed by the packing up of the tents. All went smoothly and we arrived at the wharf by the required 7.15am.

Emily and James, our tour guides greeted us onboard providing wetsuits and snorkel gear. To my surprise the tour was popular with several other friend and family groups joining us - making a total of 16 onboard.

 

A 10 minute boat ride took us to Essex Rocks Nature Reserve - a cluster of small rocky islands off the coast of Jurien Bay as the sun rose. It is the home for 15.-20 female sea lions. The islands sea lion population does fluctuate depending on the season and breeding cycle. Some fun facts we learnt -

There are 10 - 12 000 left in the wild.

They are located along the west coast and all the way to Kangaroo Island in SA.

Their favourite food is lobster. They eat it then their special stomach enables them to throw up the shell.

Sea lions live for about 20 years

Females are 4 years old before they mature enough to breed.

Breeding occurs 7-10 days after a pup is born on at 18 month cycle!

When they are born, the females stay with the colony and hang out together while the males travel solo.

A sea lion can hold its breathe for 7 - 12 minutes.

When fisherman feed them they become aggressive.

We entered the water, relieved that it was warmer in than out. As we popped our faces in we were quickly greeted by several cute playful sea lions!! They were amazing!! Their big beautiful brown eyes look at you with wonder and inquisitiveness. I understand now why they are called puppies of the ocean.

Our large tour entourage thankfully broke into various smaller groups once in the water. I stayed with Katy while Andy and Ella swam away. Katy and I were lucky to have two sea lions dart around us before Katy needed to return to the boat - she was having trouble with her mask and flippers. We discarded her flippers and swapped masks before jumping back in for another memorable encounter with the sea lions. However it wasn't long again before it seemed Katy was having more trouble with this mask and snorkel so Andy took her in. Unfortunately by this stage, Katy was cold and was very scared (as we found out later) and remained on the boat. Despite being on the boat, Katy still was able to watch the sea lions as they came up to the back of the boat. The sea lions enjoyed James squirting fresh water onto them!

I was next to leave the water cold and tired as Andy and Ella swam a decent distance from the boat. Emily exclaiming that's the furthest anyone has gone for a long time - referring to Andy and Ella!!! James tooted the horn signalling that snorkelling time over with Andy and Ella the last to arrive back at the boat! Andy was looking worse for wear - cold, tired and seasick as the wind had come up in the last 10 or so minutes making the water choppy.

As we motored back to the wharf, we listened to each other's tales of their sea lion encounters - Ella and Andy had sea lions kissing them!! Everyone agreed that this snorkelling tour was awesome and will be remembered for a long time! Thanks Turquoise Safaris!

After recovering with hot chips and coffee in Jurien, we climbed back into Beck to begin the days drive. We drove by the Leaning Trees of Greenough without stopping (is this really a tourist site?). Further along  the road we encountered an oversized mining truck, driving very slowly as predicted. With no overtaking lane in sight, we pulled off the highway at Elephant Hill for a picnic lunch. It was around 3pm when we rolled past Pink Lake and into the tiny coastal town of Port Gregory.