Sea Lion enters hotel swimming pool amidst cheering crowd of onlookers

In an endearing video that has recently gone viral, a sea lion that has been identified as a Galapagos sea lion can be seen taking a dip in a hotel swimming pool in Ecuador. Sea lions are known to be capable of diving to the depths of 600 yards and can stay underwater for as long as 10 minutes.

Uninvited Guest

The animal seems to have wandered off from its natural home the harbour in the Galapagos Islands and decided to surprise a safari expedition group while they were finishing their meal at a seaside hotel in Puerto Ayora in Ecuador. The sea mammal completely oblivious to the stunned guests decided to take a dip at the hotel swimming pool. After struggling to climb over the fence, the sea lion waddles its way to the pool to take its much-deserved dip into the water. The clip that was posted on November 7, quickly went viral as netizens were as enamoured by the adorable sea creature as the crowds in the background of the video were, who can be heard laughing.

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Fun among humans

From the video, it can be ascertained that the sea lion is wearing some sort of tag, hinting that it has had contact with humans before; that would explain its confidence with which it approached the group.
The sea lion is also seen putting on a little show for the crowd as it pushes itself on to the final step and drags itself towards the swimming pool.

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They need to be protected

Galapagos sea lions are sociable in nature and are very numerous in the Galapagos archipelago since they can be often spotted sun-bathing on sandy shores and rocks they have been dubbed the "Welcoming party" of the islands. Since the Galapagos Islands are a part of the Ecuadorian National Park, the whole population is protected and even though the islands are a popular tourist destination there are strict rules that exist to protect wildlife from disturbance.