Doris isn't your average sea lion. She's young, playful, calls St Clair home and loves surfing. So when she came across almost a dozen young grommets, ranging in age from seven to 14, surfing a small peak at St Clair on Saturday morning she couldn't help but join in.
Despite her best efforts to herd them to the beach the young surfers just smiled at her and carried on. In most cases when you do this with a sea lion they get bored and move on, but not Doris. She seemed to be enjoying the company. She'd dart in and catch any waves the surfers took, then guide them back out to the peak afterward with the occasional flash of her teeth or splash from her flippers or feet thrown in for good measure. If she could get away with it she'd circle in for the odd nibble here and there on any unattentive toes or legropes.
She took exception to one of the older surfers snaking the grommets and chased him to the beach. Three times. This went on for about three hours while the groms surfed. When Max Wooffindin, 7, had finished surfing he paddled in only to be chased the final few metres to the sand by Doris. It would have been a pretty scary sight for Max – Doris is at least twice his size.
My three kids were among the group and despite the waves being pretty terrible, described the session as one of their best ever. That makes me pretty stoked. I love the fact that we are priviledged to be able to surf with sea lions on our coastline. It's always a special moment to share the lineup with such incredible creatures. To see the next generation embrace that, too, is quite amazing. And for that dozen kids their relationship with our sea lions has just taken a huge, positive step forward. Awesome.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Want a glimpse at what the future might hold for surfboard technology and construction? Of course you do. We sat down with Primal's Glen Carkeek and Steve Hamlyn recently and asked them to shed some light on what's coming next. The future of surfboard design and construction is right here.
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