Bull sea lion laughs after intruding on beach photo

Bull sea lions are huge and very territorial. They spend most of their day looking after their colony of female sea lions, which can be a full time job. They ward off rival males, keep an eye out for predators, and even keep humans from getting too close to their women or their turf. They have a loud bark that sounds like a dog with a cough and they use this bark to protest almost anything unusual, or to simply warn everyone else of their presence and their dominance.Show more

This bull in Loberia, on the coast of San Cristobal Island, in the Galapagos, is the undisputed king of the beach and he keeps busy guarding his kingdom. He had just run full speed up the hill to chase off another bull, who wisely also ran full speed over the sand dune and as far as he could to get away. Sea lions are not agile though, and the effort of the 200 yard dash nearly exhausted him. He needed to get back to the water and he decided that rolling down the hill was his best choice.

As the bull made his way back to the water, a couple had been taking photographs of each other in various poses on the beach. Our enthusiastic bikini model was working very hard to find the right pose in the shallow tide pool with a beautiful ocean backdrop. She crouched and sat on a rock in the narrow canal that leads from the beach to the deeper water. The sea lion made its way toward her and barked. It's impossible to know if the bark was appreciation or annoyance, but the bikini model decided that she did not want to find out. She popped to her feet and made her way squealing, to the safety of the beach.

The sea lion continued to the deeper water and the barking continued, but if you listen closely, you can definitely hear that it's more like a laugh than it was before.
Apparently sea lions have a sense of humor!