Sea Lions in Moss Landing, March 28, 2010

My horse club arranged a lecture and demonstration by Dr. Jenifer Zeligs-Hurley of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories' SLEWTHS program: Science Learning and Exploration With The Help of Sea Lions. David Lichman, an accomplished horse trainer with the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program, has studied all types of animal training, and proclaimed Dr. Zeligs-Hurley one of the most accomplished animal trainers he has come across in his study. Dr. Zeligs-Hurley and her sea lions were fantastic. Her presentation was a nice mix of theory and demonstrations, and she is a gifted speaker and (obviously) sea lion trainer. This is Sake the sea lion, the most famous of the bunch (she appeared on The Tonight Show) and probably the most highly trained sea lion in the world. Thinking up the next cool trick:
Learning to use hose-reins so Dr. Zeligs-Hurley can direct Sake in the water while swimming with her.

Sea lion kiss from Cali the sea lion. It was just like have a dripping wet, fishy-smelling sponge on one's cheek, but in a really good way!