The following

This sea lion seemed curious about our zodiac and swam around us for several minutes when we paused to look at the sea lions on a beach.

Mom and pup

Lounging on the rocks, another remarkably cute sea lion pup.

Wassup?

A sea lion and a sally lightfoot crab regard each other over the lava on Gardner Island.

It was already strange to see sea lions that weren't covered in sand, but they will apparently sleep anywhere -- they were flopped out on the lava rocks looking just as comfortable as they did on the beach.

Tantrums

Not very sharp, but I had to include these two toddlers having a fight in one corner while a nearby pup ignores all the drama.

Nursery school

There was a sea lion nursery by the beach, and I sat on a rock and just watched them play until it was time to hike back to the landing.

Fun facts

This sea lion, swimming in the water off Punta Suarez, is a male. You can tell the males from the females by size -- not easy when they're in the water -- or by the fact that the males have foreheads and the females don't.

Insert your own joke here.

Sea lion family

A beach full of sea lions is a noisy place. The adults make a sound halfway between barking and barfing. The pups sound almost like sheep; they make a little maaaa! sound that is quite adorable.

You see pups trying to catch up with their mothers because they want to nurse or just hang out under mom's protective flipper, crying maaa! maaa!  But then there are the pups whose mothers aren't there, probably because she's out hunting for food. They waddle up and down the beach crying. And sometimes the mothers don't make it back and the pups die.

So I was always happy to see mothers and babies together, like this pair.

Too cute to resist

More sea lions.

We're not allowed to talk to the animals or make noises to get their attention, but more than once I caught myself babbling baby talk to the pups. Because they are just so cute.

Barquerizo Moreno

This is the provincial capital of the Galapagos. Although 96% of the archipelago is national park, there are people who actually live here, in what seems like a very pleasant small resort town with hotels and souvenir shops.

Except that this is the Galapagos, so nothing is quite what you expect. On the flight from Guayaquil yesterday morning, just before we landed, the flight attendants opened all of the overhead bins and fumigated our carry-on luggage to make sure we weren't carrying anything that could contaminate the environment. (At least no one suggested fumigating us.)

When we landed, we stood in line to get our park permits, then took buses to the marina to wait for the zodiacs that would carry us and our luggage out to the ship. On the way there, the bus stopped abruptly and we waited while a large sea lion waddled across the road.

There were dozens more at the marina, passed out on every bench like drunks recovering from a bender. Welcome to the Galapagos!