We got this picture when we were in the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador. This was on Santa Cruz Island. It felt really neat being there in the midst of all these pelicans and sea lions. In this picture, you can see how the sea lion is standing up on his tail, just loving the look of that fish. When the man would rip the skin off the fish, he would give it to one of the sea lions. But this time, the other sea lion (hiding behind the counter) stole the fish skin that was supposed to belong to the standing sea lion.

The pelicans were quite aggressive. Whenever the fishermen weren’t looking, they would come up all nervous, trying to steal the fish. And their wings would be shaking the whole time; they were really nervous. Then the fishermen would turn around and spray them with a water hose or shoo them away. It was quite comical!

One of the sea lions here at the fish market is the fisherman’s pet. He brings it home with him every night and is always petting it. He got it when it was just a pup.

Sometimes you can see the sea lions go swimming in the water were the boats are. Once we even saw a pup swimming with its mommy. It was sooo cute!

Drew Haines is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program.

Photo courtesy and copyright Drew Haines