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I swam with a 32 year old male California Sea Lion

I cannot understate their size. The males are terrifyingly large.

I'm not surprised by these findings though, sexual dimorphism is pretty extreme in California Sea Lions, especially compared to the comparitively non-dimorphic earless (true) seals

I'd be curious if this would replicate in Elephant Seals but I'm not sure how you could control the positive environment to grow their numbers in the same way

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I am not sure how Californian sea lions compare in size with New Zealand sea lion but I wouldn't want to be swimming anywhere near one.

Members of the Dolphin Club & South End Rowing Club swim and co-exist happily with the seals and sea lions in the waters of the San Francisco Bay. Give them the space they deserve and they rarely are cause for much concern. Fairly frightening when you see one pop his head up close to where you're swimming, but it's not dangerous.

The biggest danger to swimmers has been, is, and will likely always be boats, especially ones with propellers.

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