Sea lions and dogs share certain traits and among them, it seems, is that both enjoy playing fetch.
The accompanying footage shows a young sea lion watching intently from the shallows as Dave “Nelly” Nelson is about to fling a ball into the surf for his chocolate lab to retrieve.
“He’s very curious,” Nelson observes in the video, anticipating a reaction from the sea lion the moment he releases the ball.
Nelson’s young female lab, Moe, is dancing excitedly near Nelson’s feet, also anticipating the ball’s release.
Once the ball is tossed, it’s a race between pinniped and canine, with the former barking before porpoising rapidly toward the object.
But in a delightfully close competition, Moe bounds into the water and reaches the ball first, and proudly delivers it to the beach.
“She’s pretty quick,” Moe boasted to FTW Outdoors.
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The footage was captured last week near 26th Street in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Nelson said the sea lion had been following close to shore as he played fetch with Moe (short for Mokuleia). The sea lion expressed interest in Moe and the game she played with Nelson.
“At one point Moe actually dropped her ball and waded out and they went nose to nose for a second – it was so cute!” Nelson said. “Moe smelled him and he gave a little loving bark and that’s why I pulled my phone out [to capture video footage], because they were totally playing.”
Nelson, a Santa Cruz-based photographer, said Moe and the sea lion continued to play fetch for much of the walk.
“Moe is the local pup down there and the [sea lion] definitely felt the good vibes she puts off,” Nelson said.