Point Lobos State Reserve – Octber 26, 2010
Sea Lions were known to the Spanish explorers of early California as Sea Wolves. Point Lobos derived its name from the Spanish Punta de los Lobos Marinos. Today, the rocky point south of Carmel is still home to a large colony of California Sea Lions, Zalophus californianus, and as in those early days their barking is carried to shore on the prevailing winds. It was the sound of this barking that caught my ear while photographing just north of Weston Beach in the reserve. Raising my binoculars I could see the sea lions silhouetted by the setting sun perched on the rugged rocks. The surf was pounding and sending plumes of spray skyward.
Lured by the siren sounds of the distant barking I made my way over to Sea Lion Point. Using my 400mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter on my Canon 7D (890mm lens equivalent) on a tripod with a gimbled head I was able to make these photographs across the expanse known as the Devil’s Cauldron that separates the Point from Sea Lion Rocks.
