California Sea Lions...in Seattle?

Despite not being known for its beaches and tropical weather the city of Seattle, Washington still manages to attract hundreds of young "surfer dudes" to its  frigid waters every year. Except those surfers aren't even human, they're California Sea Lions to be exact. 

I recently returned from a week and a half trip to Seattle and I absolutely loved the wildlife! I'm not used to photographing wild marine life here in Minnesota, so the opportunity was very exciting for me. One of the most unique photo opportunities came when I was on a harbor cruise of the Bay that the city of Seattle is built on. These young male California Sea Lion were taking a break from the 50 degree waters on this small floating platform (I honestly have no idea what that thing is).

But why in the world would these wave loving mammals be up in Seattle when they could be enjoying tropical paradise elsewhere? Well the true story goes like this: it just so happens that it is breeding season for these guys right now and that means that back home all of the larger, stronger males are fighting each other for females. Young male sea lions are smart and recognize that they don't have a chance of beating any of their elders in a fight for a girl, so they all take a vacation and head north where they will wait out the breeding season in peace. Once the breeding season is over they will return home, only to repeat this process until they are big enough to compete for the females.