Normally, when penguins come to mind, people often think about the ice cold water and mountains of snow found in Antarctica, where they usually live. But actually, just 7 species of the 17 known living penguin species actually live in the icy land of Antarctica. There is a small-sized and water-loving Galapagos penguin that lives in the Galapagos Islands, and it survives near the equator where they love to swim and play in the warmer water.
Just recently, some people were diving in the waters off Fernandina where these penguins normally find tons of food due to the meeting of strong ocean currents in the cold Humboldt waters. These currents tend to bring in fresh food for these flightless birds that includes mullet, anchovies and sardines, some of their favorite creatures to munch on.
If you’ve ever seen a penguin swim in water, they are incredibly agile and swift swimmers, reaching speeds of 20 miles per hour (35 kilometers per hour) by using their very capable flippers.
While the human divers were snorkeling in the area, they managed to take a video of both penguins and playful sea lions swimming throughout the gorgeous blue water near the rocky shores of the Galapagos Island, getting up close and personal with the fun-loving creatures.
While the sea lions swam in their unique manner of swirling and rolling about, and the penguins dashed around, the humans managed to capture their movements, following the adorable animals as they moved back and forth around them. Thankfully they were extremely friendly and more than ready to have fun with the humans taking their video.
In fact, one particular sea lion even tried to catch a penguin in what looked to be a game of catch and release, but the penguin didn’t enjoy their playing, it would seem. This is probably because sea lions tend to prey on penguins whenever they get a chance. Regardless, they are also quite friendly and curious, often approaching humans at times.
These swimmers can chalk up this incredible encounter as a once in a lifetime experience that they won’t soon forget. And if anything, this video will surely bring even more tourists to the area in the hopes that they will have their own penguin and sea lion experience as well.
See more in the video below:
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