Sea Lions My Pet and Me

-Hello. I'm Fern.

-And I'm Rory. And we are in the Galapagos Islands.

We have come from the UK,

across the Atlantic Ocean to this incredible group of islands

just off the coast of Ecuador in South America.

We've come to this special place to meet local children

and find out about the awesome animals that live here.

It's very exciting. What are your plans?

I'm off to meet some super-cool sea creatures with Zoe and Dasha.

-You can come with me. Let's go.

-Have fun. See you.

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# Down every street Are pets to meet

# Some big, some small Some scaly, some furry

# Some keep very still Some are always in a hurry

# Some have four paws

# Some have sharp claws

-# Some quack

-Some bark

-# Some purr

-Some moo

-# Some grunt

-Some squawk

# Some cock-a-doodle-doo

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# Have you met My pet and me? #

I'm on the island of San Cristobal,

which is the capital of the Galapagos Islands,

to meet Zoe, Dasha and their dad, Juan.

Let's go. Vamos.

-Hola, Zoe. Hola, Dasha.

-Hola, Rory.

-And you must be Dad. Hola.

-Hola, Rory. Como estas?

-Todo bien.

What a beautiful island you guys live on.

It's amazing. And humans are not the only ones that live here, are they?

Sea lions live in the town, too.

Yes, of course they do.

-Sea lions.

-RORY GASPS

Wow! I have never seen a sea lion so close and it's in town as well.

That is absolutely amazing.

'Sea lions and people on this island live peacefully side-by-side.'

So how do you say "sea lion" in Spanish?

-Lobo marino.

-Lobo marino.

Now that means "wolf of the sea", right?

Yeah.

Do you find Galapagos sea lions only in San Cristobal

-or all over the place?

-Sea lions live all over Galapagos.

In San Cristobal but on the other islands, too.

-They are very cool. A very special animal, right?

-Yes.

I like them a lot.

Sea lions are one of the largest animals found here in the Galapagos.

They're also one of the most famous.

That's because there's so many of them but also because

they're very friendly.

How else would you describe the sea lions? What are they like?

They like sleeping.

They lie on the street.

They do lie on the street. They lie on the benches.

They lie around near the trees.

They love relaxing, sunbathing, having a nice time.

-What else?

-They are playful.

They are playing more in the sea.

-So when you swim, do you swim with them?

-Yeah.

-And they play?

Yes, Rory.

-They are very noisy.

-Yes, they are very noisy, aren't they?

THEY MIMIC A SEA LION

THE SEA LION BARKS

Just like that. And you.

THEY KEEP DOING SEA LION IMPRESSIONS

So, they are playful and friendly, anything else?

They are swimming very fast.

Yes. And what about on land?

They walk quite funny, don't they?

-Yeah.

-THE GIRLS LAUGH

The sea lions are very friendly but we have to remember they're wild

-animals and not pets, isn't that right?

-Yes, Rory.

-Absolutely.

Wild animals like sea lions can be a bit unpredictable.

It's important to give them plenty of space and not to touch them.

That can interfere with their scent

and we know how important sense of smell is for some animals.

'Zoe and Dasha's dad is a ranger here on San Cristobal

'and it's his job to help protect the sea lions on the island.'

So, the town is not the only place you can see sea lions, is it?

-They love the beach.

-Yes,

of course they do and you guys have some beautiful beaches here,

-don't you?

-Yes. Go to the beach, Rory.

-Great idea and we can see more sea lions.

-Yeah.

But before we do, Fern,

can you give us some cool facts

about our super chilled out sea lion friends here?

Of course, Rory.

The Galapagos sea lion can only be found on the Galapagos Islands

and in smaller numbers in a place called Isla de la Plata

in the country Ecuador.

They mainly eat fish and they can live for over 20 years,

but the females tend to live longer than the males.

The Galapagos sea lion has strong front and back flippers

that can turn to face forward.

These special flippers allow them to walk on land and glide gracefully

through the water.

On land, sea lions prefer sandy or rocky, flat beaches,

because there's plenty of shade,

tide pools to keep cool and it's easy for them to get in and out

of calm water.

The Galapagos sea lions like to group together to form

what's known as a colony.

There will only be one adult male within the group and he will be the

head of the colony. They love to group together so much that they

will even pack together when there is plenty of space around them.

My pet and me!

We've come to the beach to get a look at the Galapagos sea lions

and find out more about these amazing animals.

-There are lots of them here.

-Yes, they really like this beach.

I can see that and they're very close to the people here,

-aren't they?

-Yeah.

-Oh, it's amazing.

Let's go and have a seat and watch them. Come on.

Look at how close we are to the sea lions. They're very relaxed.

-Yeah.

-Very happy.

-RORY LAUGHS

What are they up to?

It seems like they are always sleeping, doesn't it?

They are so relaxed here. What a great life.

-What do you like about the sea lions?

-The whiskers.

They do have huge big whiskers.

They're lovely. They use them to feel what's around them

-and to find food in the sea.

-I like their little ears.

Little tiny ears, look at them. They're so cute.

And they can turn that tiny ear flap to help stop the sea water

going into their ears.

My ears look quite big compared to them.

-And what else do you like about them?

-They have big flippers.

Yes, let's see your big flippers.

# Caminando como un lobo

# Caminando como un lobo... #

RORY LAUGHS

Amigas, can you see the babies over there?

-They're playing with each other. Oh!

-Oh, so cute.

-So cute.

-RORY LAUGHS

-They are lovely.

-Yeah.

-How can you tell it is a baby?

-They are very small.

-What else is different about the babies

-compared to the adults?

-Their fur.

-Their fur.

-Yes, that's right.

When the babies are very small, they have long,

dark fur, but when they get to five months,

they moult that out and they have their adult coat on.

Just like this one. Look, the coat is much shorter.

Very beautiful.

-Here she comes.

-THEY MAKE SEA LION NOISES

Oh, amigas, she is so noisy.

-Who is she speaking to?

-Her baby.

Yes, she was calling to her baby.

And look, she's having a feed now.

What do the babies drink?

-Leche.

-That's right.

Leche. Leche is the Spanish word for milk and it can take up to three

years for a mother sea lion to raise her baby sea lion.

That's why you can see lots of different sizes of baby

around the beach, from very small to quite big like this one here.

The pups drink milk, but what do the adults eat?

-Fish.

-Yes, absolutely right.

They go out to sea to go and catch fish.

Shall we see if we can see any swimming out there?

Oh, yeah, look.

One, two...

Three.

Four, five, six, seven,

-eight, nine...

-And ten.

-SEA LIONS BARK

Wow. The sea lions are very good swimmers.

They're not so good on land, though, are they? They're a bit clumsy.

SEA LIONS BARK

But in the water, wow.

Who is that big guy making all that noise?

-Alpha male.

-Yes, it's the alpha male.

Dasha, how can you tell it's the alpha male?

The alpha male is very big and has the crest.

The alpha male is the biggest and strongest male.

He looks after a group of 20 to 25 females.

He has that raised forehead to protect his head when gets into

fights with other males, trying to look after that group of females.

Am I right this thinking that these sea lions are a protected species?

-Yes.

-And what sort of dangers do they face?

The fishermen and the boat propellers.

Of course, the fishing lines can get caught in their skin and hurt them

and the boat propellers, they can hit their flippers on them

-and be injured.

-Yes.

-What about if they get ill?

-We help them.

-Oh, great.

-How do you help them?

-Protected areas on the sea and in the beach.

That's great because they need both the beach to relax and stay cool and

-have a great time and the sea to feed and go and catch fish.

-Yeah.

'I can see that some of the sea lions are tagged so they can keep

'count of them and they can make sure there is plenty of food for

'them to eat by stopping people fishing too much around the islands

'and your dad helps to do all of that.'

-Look at them relaxing. I could watch these guys all day.

-Me too.

-I love the sea lions.

-Oh, I love them as well.

They're beautiful.

-FLAMINGOS SQUAWK

-My pet and me!

These sea lions look very chilled out relaxing on the beach.

-They're sleeping.

-Yeah, they are sleeping.

I wonder what sea lions would dream about?

If they could do anything, what do you think they'd do?

If a sea lion could do anything,

they would go ice-skating.

They would have a great time

doing twists and twirls around the ice rink.

They would be the best ice-skaters

in the world.

We've had great time watching the sea lions on the beach

but the best place to see them is in the water.

Zoe and Dasha are going to take me to their favourite snorkelling spot.

-I'm so excited.

-BOTH:

-Come on Rory, come on.

BOAT HORN TOOTS

Look, sea lion.

Oh, yes, look, he's sunbathing on the boat.

-ALL:

-Hola, lobo marino, hola.

Hola!

I can't wait to snorkel with the sea lions.

-What will they be like in the water?

-They will swim with us.

That sounds very exciting.

-I think we're almost there, so we should go and get ready.

-Yeah!

Welcome!

It is beautiful.

I can't wait it get in there. It looks amazing.

We need to check that we have everything.

First, mask and snorkel and flippers.

And wet suits.

Yeah.

-It looks like we've got everything. Let's go, vamos.

-Vamos!

Let's go find some sea lions.

I can't believe how friendly they are, this is awesome.

-They're very playful, Rory.

-Yes, they really are

and I can't believe how close they're coming to us, it's so fun.

They're very clumsy on land,

but in the water they're so graceful and fast, zooming through.

Yes, they have very special flippers.

Just like us.

They have two very powerful flippers at the front which help them move

through the water quickly and two flippers at the back

which help them to steer. They can manoeuvre and move around.

Galapagos sea lions are incredible divers.

They can dive a long way down,

which means holding their breath for a long time.

Now that is impressive.

Did you see that?

That's just amazing, look at them spin through the water.

Snorkelling with sea lions is the most fun I've ever had.

I've had an awesome time learning about the sea lions with you guys.

-thank you very much, Zoe and Dasha.

-You're welcome, Rory.

-Aw.

My pet and me!

-Hi, Fern.

-Hi, Rory.

-What a view.

-I know, isn't it incredible? How was your day?

It was brilliant.

We spent a day with the sea lions and even went snorkelling with them.

-That must have been awesome to have been so close to them.

-It was.

I feel so lucky. Zoe and Dasha taught me so much about sea lions

-and what the people are doing to protect them.

-That is fantastic.

The Galapagos Islands is such an incredible place.

We love sharing our animal adventures with you.

# Look where we've been

# Look what we've seen

# Thank you so much for showing us

# The animals of the Galapagos

# On land or sea

# So much to see

-# Iguanas, crabs

-And turtles too!

-# Flamingos, sharks

-A giant tortoise or two!

# Amazing wildlife to look at

# In its natural habitat

# Animals we've not seen before

# Come back soon and see some more!

# My pet my pet and me My pet my pet and me

# My pet my pet and me Come back and see

# My pet and me. #

-ALL:

-Bye!