revenge of the sea lions

on a day excursion during our camping trip, my mother and i went to avila beach to see what was there. what was there? sea lions, as it turns out. we started walking on the pier and could hear them barking, but we couldn't figure out where they were. we didn't see them on the beach, and there didn't seem to be any flat rafts where they could be sunning. but we sure could hear them. we walked further up the pier to where a small crowd of people was leaning against the rail, peering into the water. there below, on the concrete base of the pier, were ten sea lions jostling each other for a more secure snoozing spot. while a few napped peacefully, a crowd of more rambunctious lardy animals pushed each other into the water, howling. we watched this spectacle for some time, finally got bored, and walked on.