Here we are at the beginning of another beautiful week. I hope you had nice weather this weekend and were able to enjoy that great autumn feel. In case the weather wasn’t the best for you this weekend, I figured we could take a trip to California where I am sure it will be nice and warm. Besides checking out the “Walk of Fame” we should also wander over to the ocean to see if we can catch a glimpse of the California Sea Lion. Okay, so we could probably check out this Sea Lion anywhere along the west coast but why not use this as an excuse to go to Cali, right?

You might recognize the California Sea Lion as this is typically the species you will see balancing a ball on their nose as they entertain a large crowd of kids and parents, alike. But the California Sea Lion is so much more than just a local attraction that amuses families. In their natural habitat these impressive creatures are capable of swimming at speeds around 40 km/hr (25 mph), making them among the sleekest and fastest of all the Sea Lions.

Animals such as the squid, fish and shellfish need to constantly be on the look out for the California Sea Lion. Not only do they have to deal with the incredibly fast swimming speed, but this marine mammal is also proficient at diving. The California Sea Lion has no problems lowering their heart rate, which allows them to dive up to 10 minutes at a time. If this weren’t bad enough, this Sea Lion is known to hunt for up to 30 hours at a time. Basically, this makes life difficult for the aforementioned prey species.

California Sea Lion Fast Fact – Although, the California Sea Lion is perfectly suited to life in the water, they are surprisingly mobile on land as well. The rear flippers are able to rotate around making walking on land fairly easy. They probably aren’t going to win any races but this adaptation does allow them to get by.

Well that does it for the first Wild Fact of the week. I hope you enjoyed your trip to California and I will see you back here tomorrow.