When an enormous swell slammed California last week, expert surfers took to the waves. But the true stars, it could be argued, were sea lions.
The accompanying footage shows California sea lions exhibiting remarkable prowess will riding and leaping through massive waves off Santa Barbara Island, west of Los Angeles.
The footage was captured by a documentary crew, which included a National Geographic cameraman, on a Jan. 7 Pacific Offshore Expeditions outing. (The Facebook version is accompanied by the Surfaris’ hit, “Wipeout.” The Instagram video has no sound.)
Ryan Lawler, who runs Pacific Offshore Expeditions, told For The Win Outdoors that the crew was hoping to capture underwater footage at a remote dive spot, but persistent fog led them on a search for a sunny patch.
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“On the exposed side of the island the swell was huge but we found some sun,” Lawler said. “As we rounded the southern portion of the island, which has an islet called Sutil Island, we noticed sea lions flying out of the back of the waves. It was an awesome moment.
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“I had never seen that before at this island, which is well known for its sea lions. So we stayed there for 20 minutes, observing and waiting for the sun to break up the fog. Then we dove for about 90 minutes and came back, but all the sea lions had disappeared.”
While sea lions are powerful swimmers and and famously agile, scenes such as these are rarely observed. Lawler and the crew headed back to the island Thursday – as high surf continues – to try to capture drone footage of the same event.