Sea lions have also been called by the nickname “sea dogs” because they display the same comical and endearing qualities that we find in our furry family members.
Which is why the sight of a baby sea lion begging for fish in a market shouldn’t be surprising but still be an adorable one nevertheless. Watch the funny sea lion here:
[rumble video_id=v68vkl domain_id=u7nb2]
Video credit: Rumble
The footage was taken in a fish market on Santa Cruz island, one of the Galapagos Islands and where the largest human concentration on the islands is located. The Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galápagos National Park Service are also located in Santa Cruz.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Galapagos Islands is the fact that its residents take their duty to nature quite seriously. There are strict guidelines on how much infrastructure development can be done on the island. While this would impact their overall economic activity, it has helped the residents maintain a good balance between human civilization and the wildlife that they share the land with.
Not only that, people are required to maintain at least 2 meters of distance from the wildlife. These rules are also applied to tourists which makes sure that the animals are not stressed and can get on with their lives with minimal interference.
In a way, this has helped make the wildlife comfortable with the close proximity of humans and is about as perfect a balance as you can achieve between humans and animals that you can see in this world.
But even without that easy familiarity with humans, sea lions are more apt to seek the company of humans than other animals. This is why it’s just so adorable to see the little fellow in the video clip because apparently, like stray cats who like to loiter around food markets, this baby sea lion shows up every day to beg for food.
His earnestly pleading face and whimpering cries are enough to touch even the hardiest fishermen as they clean their catch. Feeding the wildlife is generally frowned upon but a few scraps of fish here and there still manage to find their way to the floor, much to the delight of the baby sea lion.
As he comically struggles to flip the fish down his mouth, he must equally be grunting with pleasure at the free and easy treats he’s managing to wrangle out of the people there. And how can one not have a soft spot for those big brown eyes that one can’t help but stare into?
And once the little guy has had his fill, he joyfully goes back to the ocean and ready to go back the next day for his share of the treats.
Replaced!