Wow, that sure looks like one piss-poor and inadequate enclosure... am I wrong or do both the pool and the land area/rocks look really tiny for two animals as large as a Californian sea lion? Also, very sterile-looking classic blue water...
@KevinB You are certainly not wrong. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. What you see on the photo is all they have, at this time the sea lions were in the dolphin show pool for the show. But after the show they come back to here. Two very large full grown animals. I looked everywhere but it certainly looked like this is all the room they have. People were also holding food above the water and the male sea lion would jump from the pool to try and grab the food. A very shocking and dangerous thing to see.
Well at least these "inmates" aren't in there all the time... but that certainly doesn't justify this crappy enclosure!
The thing you describe with the people is very shocking indeed. If you've ever seen the inside of the mouth of a Californian sea lion, especially a male but even a female, you know you just shouldn't mess with them. Dangerous indeed and if that's a common thing it's only a matter of time before someone gets seriously bit and has to be rushed to the hospital.
It does seem to me that some of these marine parks (not all of them, though) sadly seem very show and recreation-focused and not quite so focused on animal welfare, education and conservation as the "big", "good" or accredited zoos tend to and as zoos should be, even if recreation will always be part of zoos.
