Relation Between Sea Lions and Humans
There are many legends out there in the world that involve positive interactions among humans and Sea Lions. The people of Peru have a very long history of worshiping this very animal. It is tied to their history and it continues to be an active part of their culture today. In fact, the people of Peru often depict the Sea Lion in their art work.
There are some very positive interactions out there that take place with humans and Sea Lions. There are many facilities where these animals are in captivity and people come to see them. Since these animals are highly intelligent it is easy enough to train them to perform a variety of tricks for the crowd. Sea Lions are very calm creatures so humans aren’t in danger of being harmed by them as they work side by side in the water.
Not all of the interactions that they are trained for are for fun or entertainment purposes though. The United States government has used Sea Lions to help their scuba diving teams. They also use them to detain scuba divers that are found in areas where they shouldn’t be until authorities can get to them scene.
While these interactions seem to show that the Sea Lion is very gentle, unfortunately that isn’t always the case. The Sea Lion has gotten some very negative publicity over the years due to some rare but aggressive attacks on humans. The one that seems to get the most attention is that which took place in 2007 on a 13 year old girl.
This girl was surfing in the water and experts believe that the attack wasn’t due to aggression or a desire to eat the girl. Instead it is believed that she was viewed as a type of toy or that she simply peaked the curiosity of the Sea Lion. There are also plenty of reports of Sea Lions biting swimmers in the waters around California. It is believed this could be a sign of territorial aggression by the males.
It is important to point out that male Sea Lions are very territorial. They have been know to attack humans that get too close to them during mating season. This is because of the higher levels of hormones in their bodies. They are also trying to protect their staked area so that they can attract a large amount of females to their harem.
We have to remember that as we continue to invade the natural habitat of the Sea Lions we introduce them to things that they haven’t dealt with before. They have their natural instincts that will direct their own behaviors. We can’t expect them or any other animals for that matter to alter that based on the fact that humans continue to push the boundaries that were once in place.
Yet it also isn’t fair to classify all humans as being destructive to Sea Lions. Thousands of people volunteer their time when emergency action needs to be taken. Without their help many Sea Lions would die when there are oil spills or other problems that arise in their natural habitat thanks to human errors.
There are also many people that take the time to research the lives and habits of these animals. They do so in order to share information and to find new ways to help them survive. They work with Sea Lions to nurse them back to health and to release many of them back into the wild. They also take the time to educate the public about conservation efforts so that there is hope that Sea Lions won’t become extinct.
