Sea Lions...!

Ian circles a young sea lion who is flipping sand with his tail like mad.

Like Wellington, Dunedin is built on hills around a harbour, and some of the best walking is along the coast.

Yesterday we went for a walk on Allan's Beach and discovered that we were not the only ones enjoying sand and scenery.

This is a well-known location for Hooker Sea Lions who come in from the surf to loll around on the sand and have a snooze.

These two boulder-looking lumps are mother and child.

Sometimes they flip sand over themselves.  I once thought this was to disguise their appearance (I am not a big black sea lion, I am a big mound of sand) but they actually do this to discourage insects. 

To the casual observer, they are pretty well disguised, anyway.  The young ones are a pale sandy colour, and the darker adults look a lot like giant clumps of seaweed until you walk over to them and they lift their heads and yawn.  They do not seem to mind being a tourist attraction.

We probably saw over 10 sea lions on the kilometre long beach. I finally stopped taking pictures.

This adult, who was the size of a black bear, used his tail to scratch under his chin--just like a dog.

It was a beautiful day for man and beast! 

The water, by the way, was very cold.  No one goes in the ocean around Dunedin unless they are surfers (in wet suits) .....or sea lions.