Photo from dolphins.org

Both of the dolphinariums I visited last week host a couple sea lions amid their extensive dolphin collections.  There’s obviously a far greater demand for dolphin time than sea lion.  I asked Mary Stella, Director of Media and Marketing at Florida’s Dolphin Research Center what it is about sea lions that makes them less appealing than dolphins.

She called that “an invalid question.”  Sea lions, she assured me, are charming and so smart that DRC’s Kilo responds to over 150 different requests from his handlers.  The only explanation Mary could offer for the disparity in popularity is that no sea lion rock star like Flipper has come forward to inspire mass adoration.

I hope you won’t judge me when I admit that I felt more attraction to the sea lions than the dolphins–even before the sea lions started carrying on like I was a rock star.

Aaaaaaaaaa!  (Me screaming my love for Kilo–rock star sea lion!)