Fuerteventura: Sea Lions

Over the Easter holiday I went to Fuerteventura for a week, and whilst I was there I went to an Oceanarium at the harbour a few times. At this Oceanarium were 3 Californian seal lions, 2 females called Debbie and Donna, and one male called Casper. I decided to use these sea lions as the main focus of my wildlife conservation project as there was a variety of shots I could take, coupled with a lot of information that I could write about them and the Oceanarium.

Unfortunately the sea lions were born in captivity so could not be released into the wild, but I wanted to show the positive side of this type of conservation. Although the sea lions are in captivity, the Oceanarium is in the sea, on a beach, which is as close to the wild that they can get without actually being wild Californian sea lions. They have 3 pools, two smaller, and one large, and all are at least 25 feet deep, and in the sea itself. There is only a relatively low rope and widely spaced wire fence around the enclosure, meaning that if the sea lions were inclined to, they could escape. I will include more information in my post with my final images of the enclosures and sea lions that I took, but for now, these are my contact sheets.

After the employees allowed me to get access beyond the rope and wire fence, my images were a lot more detailed and in focus, as I was a lot closer to the sea lions, close enough to touch them (although I didn't). I took these photos over a period of a week, going back 3 or 4 times over my holiday to gather more information about the sea lions, the Oceanarium and the trainers, as well as to take more photographs. I have decided not to post any video for this project as often people will not take the time to watch it, so I am going to stick with photographs.