Swimming with the Sea Lions of Redondo Beach Harbor Go Wild with Mr. Whiskers By Andre Navarro of Ocean Earth Green
I grew up in Southern California and have always enjoyed hanging out at the Redondo Beach Pier which is part of King's Harbor. Playing video games at the huge arcade, eating at all the different food shops and most of all, taking in the beautiful ocean scenery. Roughly 30 years back, you could even swim in the inner pier tiny beach area before it was eroded away. Then came the unfortunate fire of 1988 and a huge portion of the pier burnt down.
But this isn't about the pier. It's about where I first heard and saw the Sea Lions of the Redondo Beach Harbor. And this is how I came across them, by hearing them from the pier and occasionally seeing one swim by. This is all it took to get stuck in my mind and immediately get onto my mental too do list, one day swim with the Sea Lions of Redondo Beach Harbor. However, it took me until I was 46 to actually do it, better late than never.
I knew there was a buoy outside of the harbor entrance filled with loud Sea Lions. I figured this would be the perfect place to jump in as I would definitely get their attention and curiosity by just being there where no one swims. This was a task for my inflatable paddle boards and an assistant as it's about 250 yards from shore in the middle of the harbor entrance boating lane. Dangerous for the average person, very much so. But with planning, ocean risk management and knowledge of the area and what to expect, it was worth it for me. This was not my first harbor entrance exploration either.
So we paddled out on a sunny warm day. However, unlike the surf report forecast, there were moderate waves 3 to 5' swells. The waves posed no threat to us as we would be in deeper water the entire time where the waves don't break, but this made the surface choppy and stirs up the ocean. This also results in poor visibility worst of all. Paddling out was much harder and took way longer than planned but the large swells were fun going up and down and kind of scary at times. The closer we got, the louder the Sea Lions became along with the clanking of the ocean buoy.
Once we got to the harbor entrance ocean buoy, it was piled with Sea Lions, some sleeping and others barking and wrestling with each other for the choice spot. Sea Lions leave the water between foraging for food which is known as Hauling Out, a Pinniped behavior which California Sea Lions are a part of. Hauling out is done for rest and predator avoidance along with several other important reasons. Once the Sea Lions saw us, they definitely were interested in what we were doing way out there. At least the ones that weren't having the nap of their lives in the hot sun. Sea Lions are extremely curious, intelligent and playful. In my experience in swimming with Sea Lions, once some get in to swim, others get curious of the action and quickly join in, especially the younger ones. The more that jump in, the more that follow.
The water was extremely cold, especially after paddling there in the warm sun. My assistant held my paddle board as I got into the water. Without help, my paddle board would just float away with the waves. They were also my lookout for quick approaching boats and worked as a visual for those boats to slow down as we were there and easily seen on the paddle board.
As soon as I got in and dove down, there were several Sea Lions right behind me. And as usual, they were the youngens judging by their size. Looking downward this day, visibility quickly disappeared into the dark blueish green ocean and the clanking of the ocean buoy took on a completely different sound, muffled and echoed by the water. Then there was the barking of the Sea Lions which they also do underwater just as on land, along with other assorted noises.
Sea Lions swim fast and graceful, like precise underwater torpedoes. I can't keep up with them by any means and they don't like being followed closely anyways, so I swim down and let them join me. And it's never disappointing. They dive bomb all around me from every direction. The longer I stay and dive down, the closer they get. Even though I can hold my breath a bit longer than the average person, it's nothing compared to the Sea Lions breathe hold capabilities. So when I quickly have to surface and leave the fun, they always give me a look of disappointment, like I'm being lazy or difficult. I surface, catch my breathe and dive down again and again in almost like a wave like fashion, the Sea Lions all dive down after me, overwhelming me from every direction. It's an awesome surreal experience that I wish I could do for hours. But I get tired and cold and after a while, the Sea Lions get bored of my minimal abilities and return to their haul out spot, the ocean buoy of Redondo Beach Harbor entrance.
Andre Navarro
I am Andre Navarro, Southern California adventurer and freediver. I was born in San Pedro California and grew up in Long Beach California where I graduated Millikan HS class of 93 and attended Long Beach City College for Art, Drawing and Painting. After obtaining an Associates Degree for Art and a semester away from transferring to Cal State Long Beach to continue in Art, I joined the LA County Sheriff's Department as a Custody Assistant (County Jail Guard). Approximately a year later I promoted to Sheriff Deputy where I worked custody and patrol assignments. After working law enforcement for roughly 9 years and having a son and daughter during this time, I came to the hard decision that long term this career was not for me. Shortly after ending the law enforcement chapter in my life, I began a new one in industrial machinery and conveyor belting distribution where I worked for 14 years in several positions including: fabrication and installation, purchasing, business development and sales management .
In June of 2019, I left this position for another major direction change in my life. During my management years, I was sent to Mexico and the Ukraine to help recruit and train international employees. This is where I fell in love with traveling and experiencing different cultures. And this is also when I began freediving exotic locations on the weekends. I have always loved being in the ocean since a child and began bodyboarding young. Way later I began snorkeling on the downtime when there were no waves. This morphed into freediving which I do today. I also love to hike, camp and explore. In the last 3 years I began making videos of my explorations on land and now mostly in freediving. After leaving my last job of 14 years, I made the decision to spend approximately 1 year traveling, diving and making videos of my adventures while trying to figure out a possible way of making a living at this. I have realized there is an immediate and important need for ocean conservation and education while there is a major lack of understanding about our local coasts, ocean and it's life. Through my videos, my goal is to take everyone with me over land, air and into the ocean to experience all its beauty, life and importance.
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