Footage shows sea lions performing high dives, surfing giant waves

A California whale-watching company has captured surreal footage showing sea lions diving from perches high upon a wooden dock.

“It happens every so often if the timing is right when we’re passing by them on the boat,” Kate Cummings, owner of Blue Ocean Whale Watch in Moss Landing, told FTW Outdoors. “It’s always a crowd-pleaser with lots of cheering. I always stop the boat if it looks like one is thinking of jumping off.”

The accompanying slow-motion footage is somewhat bizarre because of muffled cheers from the boat and bellows from other sea lions gathered in the foreground, as if comprising an audience.

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Cummings’ video provides what appears to be an example of playful  behavior and is reminiscent of extraordinary footage shared by FTW Outdoors in 2021, showing sea lions riding and leaping through massive waves near Santa Barbara Island.

That footage, captured by a documentary crew with Pacific Offshore Expeditions out of Newport Beach, is posted below.

Ryan Lawler, owner of Pacific Offshore Expeditions, described what he had witnessed as “an awesome moment.”

Lawler added: “I had never seen that before at this island, which is well known for its sea lions. So we stayed there for 20 minutes, observing and waiting for the sun to break up the fog. Then we dove for about 90 minutes and came back, but all the sea lions had disappeared.”