Only a few days ago I was swimming with sea lions in the clear and warm water off Isabella Island. I was mid way through a week long sail around the Galapagos Islands on the sixteen berth Beluga.

As usual we had been taken to the snorkelling site in the two zodiacs. We rolled off the sides into the sea. I slowly swam towards the rocks where I hoped to find the best snorkelling. After a few minutes I looked up to check where the dinghy and other swimmers were. As I did so I noticed several sea lions on the beach nearby.

Sylvia, our guide, had warned us about going too close to the beach so I altered course a bit and gently paddled my way towards the rocks.

I was gazing at the amazing colours and varieties of fish that were drifting back and forth with the current as each wave passed. As I turned my head I saw a sea lion pirouette directly underneath me. It was a juvenile and it acrobatically twisted and turned looking straight at me as if to say:

‘I bet you can’t do that’.

I dived down and somersaulted, blowing bubbles out of my nose. The sea lion replied with a double twist, pike and roll. I held up my scores.

Seven for artistic interpretation but only a six for degree of difficulty.

I replied with a few swift moves of my own. Although they felt good I’d have to admit that they didn’t even come close to the sea lions’ grace and agility.

We continued in this vein for a few minutes. Shortly afterwards a few of his friends came to join us. They seemed to know exactly how far I could reach and how close they could come without touching me.

As an experiment I started to make more noise and splashes as I tried to swim swiftly across the water. My behaviour attracted even more sea lions. They were swimming all around me and staring at me as they went past. I felt the tempo increase as they seemed to get a little excited.

I continued to roll and somersault, playing with them on my own ungainly terms.

It was extraordinary and wonderful to watch their agility and amazing acceleration. A few of them had mock battles as each tried to bite the others tail. A short while later two of them were trying to bite each other’s noses when they locked jaws in a sea lion kiss.

I was still enjoying my self but decided to stop my little experiment when I saw a large male approach. He was a lot bigger than the ones I’d been playing with.

At that moment I decided to check where the zodiac and the other swimmers were. As I looked towards the beach I saw two males in a serious fight. The sand had been thrown up like dust by the force of their movements. The smaller sea lions were scrambling to get out of their way as they slammed into each other.

After one or two more crunches I heard Sylvia call my name.

‘ Jerome, swim away from the beach area as there are a few males near you’.

I looked underwater and there were now two males and maybe ten or so other sea lions around me. All of a sudden it seemed to be a rather good idea to be somewhere else.

I decided that I should heed her advice as she knew and had a lot more experience of sea lion behaviour than I did. I immediately started to swim away from them. Initially they followed me but as I kept up my steady and straight course they slowly fell behind and left me alone.

In the zodiac, on the return to the Beluga, Sylvia said that they bite flippers and nip toes when they get over excited.....