Survival of the Fittest - Darwin & the Galapagos Sea Lion

by Caitlin Dixon (Canada)

I didn't expect to find Ecuador

As the water taxi bounced into the bay we could hear them - the Galapagos Sea Lions are called the unofficial greeters for a reason. Throughout our trip to the Galapagos Islands their furry faces, deep soulful eyes and sharp bark were are constant but it was our encounter on San Cristobal that would stick with us. “Do not touch the wildlife” this rule and warning echoed in my head daily as we did our best to avoid snoozing Marine Iguanas on the pathways and Darwin Finches on the lunch tables but the baby sea lions were the hardest. With puppy-like faces and big, sad eyes, they look up at you as they cry, waiting for their mother to return from fishing. Sometimes they wait for days, their little bodies slim, sometimes alarmingly so, from wanting. Their barking cries echoing along the beach until the curl up for another nap. The temptation to pick them up and cuddle them, to feed them, to give them love is almost too much to resist. But then you remind yourself why you must. As we relaxed in the sun after snorkeling, an adult female swam up on the beach, barking loudly and looking frantic, at least as frantic as a sea lion can. As she called, the tiny baby we’d been watching all afternoon looked up, but then seemed to note it wasn’t their mom. The mother seemed to grow more concerned, until suddenly a (rather large) baby came charging from the other side of the beach, as fast as it could. The reunion was so pure, so touching that I had to wipe away tears- maybe nature isn’t so cruel after all. Famous last words. That night as we walked along the boardwalk after dinner we stopped at the beach to watch the sea lions. It was quite the ruckus, the lousy sucking of nursing pups, the snores of adults sea lions, the cries of babies who were still waiting for their moms and then, we heard it. A cry, different from the others, more frantic and more gut-wrenching. A baby sea lion was desperately trying to get a female sea lion to recognize him-like his mother. The sounds of his cries, the desperation, and panic in his movement, it was nothing short of tragic. As he smelled her, he seemed to try to get her to recognize his scent. Instead, she bared her teeth and growled him away, shortly after being joined by a fellow member of the group. He was so skinny, so in need and now, he would not survive. The cruelty of nature playing out right before our eyes. Inconsolable, I walked away, not waiting for my friends. I could not bear to watch any longer. What could have caused a baby to be rejected so fiercely? Sea lions are very protective and will only feed their own pups, which they identify by scent and the touch of a human is often enough to destroy this recognition. A baby sea lion that has been pet, cuddle or held by a human will often be rejected by its mother and therefore, it will starve. As we sat on the beach earlier, my friend was speaking with a woman who was studying the sea lions as an angry man walked up to her. Over the course of their discussion, he revealed he has been picking up and cuddling sea lions on the other beaches because they had looked so sad. Although his intentions were good, this man had likely doomed them. Survival of the fittest - the cruelty of nature is evident throughout the islands and it is fitting to witness it in the place the inspired Darwin’s theory. I only wish we hadn’t seen humans helping in along.