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Seated in the center of the kayak, the operator works foot pedals that flap blades beneath the craft.
The new electric motor is in the upright position at stern. The battery weighs 23 pounds. |
Mature male California Sea Lions are typically eight feet long and weigh 700 pounds. This came as a bit of a shock to our intrepid ocean kayak explorer, out on the shakedown cruise of his replacement kayak this weekend in San Diego Bay. Hai Dang had a two-person Hobie, but traded for a one-man fishing setup. (above)
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| Photo: California Sea Grant |
He has added a small battery-powered motor to augment the leg-powered arrangement that provides primary propulsion. Joining him on the cruise were two massive, intelligent sea creatures, who show little fear of human encroachment on their territory. Sea Lions outweigh Hai's kayak by a good 500 pounds. No worries. They're not that playful.
"I always thought they were much smaller," Hai said. "More like three feet or so."
That would be the harbor seals in the Como Park Zoo, Hai.
