Sometimes I think it would be cool to live near the ocean instead of the Great Lakes, and then I see stories like this one that make me glad that the only major animal irritant in my area is seagulls.
Because if I saw these massive sea lions just chilling on my boat, I’ll consider it theirs. I definitely wouldn’t try to fight them for it.
The pair of giants were spotted by a number of people around Eld Inlet, having “borrowed” some poor person’s boat.
The extremely chill getaway was caught on film by Josh Phillips and a friend, who had noticed a wonky-looking boat out on the water.
“It looked a little off,” he told The Olympian, “and we got closer and closer and realized there were two massive animals on board.”
He shared the video on Instagram, where it quickly went viral.
He wasn’t the only person to catch them on camera, either.
In this other video from YouTube, you can see a third sea lion attempt to join its buddies, but they weren’t letting him board.
Maybe they knew that it wouldn’t handle the extra weight.
Of course, people wanted to know where the boat came from, and YouTuber Samuel Ginn managed to track him down.
The owner’s name is Neil and he explained that he didn’t see it happen.
Like most of us, he saw the viral video and thought it was funny. Until he realized that not only was it filmed in Eld Inlet, but it was his boat!
Neil was familiar with the sea lions in the area, having watched them damage and sink another boat recently.
It’s hard to know if it was the exact same sea lions, but Neil had seen them climbing and lounging on a 40-foot antique wooden sloop, which had been heavily damaged before sinking.
Perhaps that’s why they were in search of a new boat to hang out on.
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It’s that first boat that probably led to the current rumors that the little sail boat in the video had sunk.
But thankfully, the little sail boat survived. Neil and Samuel were able to go find and fetch it back.
Besides a whole lot of sea lion poop and dirt, the boat isn’t too badly damaged. The boom is bent and there’s a crack in the roof, but it’s all fixable.
Hopefully, those sea lions don’t just come take it again.
h/t: The Olympian
