{"id":1098,"date":"2017-07-10T06:12:32","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T13:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bajatraveler.com\/?p=1098"},"modified":"2017-07-13T10:19:59","modified_gmt":"2017-07-13T17:19:59","slug":"luke-inman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mexmagazine.com\/luke-inman\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Inman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Luke Inman<\/h1>\n

Experience with Sea Lions<\/h2>\n

by Jennifer Small \/ photos by Luke Inman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Underwater photographer, filmmaker and PADI Course Director Luke Inman<\/strong><\/a> opens up about his passion for diving, his connection with the Sea of Cortez, and his relationship with the sea lion.<\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

How have the Sea of Cortez and Los Islotes captured your heart? How is it different than any other place on Earth?<\/strong>
\nFew places so close to a city can offer humans true interactions with wild animals.<\/em><\/p>\n

My first visit to Los Islotes was a humbling experience. I felt enlightened by the sea lions. Arriving at the colony is best described as noisy sensory overload. The cacophony of sea lions barking, the calls of sea birds, and the movement of the ocean is punctuated by sea lion howls and whines. The sea lions enunciate to each other and welcome visitors to their home. The hubbub of noise is clear as the message penetrates your soul: \u201cmagic happens here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

The magic is the sea lions enchanting and entrancing you. Not with illusion or wizardry, there is no incantation, no voodoo. Just finesse and charm, playful charm that allures and inspires everyone that visits.<\/em><\/p>\n

How would you characterize the sea lions of Los Islotes?<\/strong>
\nLos Islotes receives more visitors than almost any other island in the Sea of Cortez. The sea lions appear to have become accustomed to human interaction and high levels of boat traffic with few ill effects. They have been universally delightful \u2013 even when they involve the menacingly large adult males. The sea lions have provided me with some of the most incredible interactions.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

What is your favorite thing about diving with the sea lions?<\/strong>
\nThe sea lions taught me true serenity and bliss of wild animal interactions. Sea lions can leave you smiling with the remembrance of childhood joys and innocence, the halcyon days of having no responsibility. The sea lions are my meditation. Visiting and associating with them has become a key component of my routine, a natural, nurturing therapy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tell us about your experience photographing the sea lion featured on the new limited-edition PADI certification card.<\/strong>
\nOne of my most memorable experiences was with a young pup at Los Islotes, a yearling female marked and tagged ironically with the number \u201c42\u201d (which according to The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy is the \u201cAnswer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything\u201d). She seemed to appear every time I dived at Los Islotes and taught me a lot about consorting with sea lions. She was patient, kind and, above all, affectionate. Whether she really held the answer to \u201clife, the universe and everything\u201d is a matter of debate, but I am sure Prefect & Dent would have agreed with me.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Our interactions always started with her gently colliding with me \u2013 but perhaps ambush would be a better description. This act was executed with the skill of a well-trained military diver. Like all good surprise attacks, I was invariably completely blindsided, but invariably and without exception she ended with her head pressed against mine so that I could feel her whiskers caressing my forehead.<\/em><\/p>\n

She would then initiate play by gently biting my hand. This teasing nip would be the transition to her ensuring my hand was directed either across her body or behind her ear. Her goal seemed to be to get me to scratch her ears; when I stopped, she would maneuver her head under my hand, initiating more tactile affection like dogs and puppies do. At times I would have to put my camera down and simply focus on giving her the love and attention she insisted on.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Several years after my experience with \u201c42\u201d she stopped appearing on my dives. I assumed that she had become too old or mature to continue to play with this bubbly, noisy intruder into her world. How wrong I was. I did meet \u201c42\u201d again \u2013 two or three years later \u2013 when a now large female greeted me underwater like her long-lost friend.<\/em><\/p>\n

I had never witnessed profuse exuberance quite like this. It didn\u2019t seem possible that this might be the same young pup that had so gleefully sought my company. The ambush technique seemed very familiar, as did the insistence on ear and tummy rubs. Once again I found myself putting my camera down and appeasing my long-lost friend\u2019s request for some bonding and playtime. There was scarring from an identification tag, but the actual tag had long since worn away. I asked one of the regular researchers at the colony if it was possible for \u201c42\u201d to remember me. I was given a suitably skeptical look and told, \u201cThere is no reason why not, but we don\u2019t look for things like that in science.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Do you have any advice for capturing the personality and spirit of critters in underwater photography and videography?<\/strong>
\nCome and take a photo workshop with me<\/a> \u2013 or enroll in a PADI Digital Underwater Photographer or Underwater Videographer course near you.<\/em><\/p>\n

Luke Inman’s photography tips to live by:<\/strong>
\n01<\/strong> Don’t harm the environment!<\/em>
\n 02<\/strong> Capture the moment.<\/em>
\n 03<\/strong> Tell a story.<\/em>
\n 04<\/strong> Worry about the art, not the equipment.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

What do you hope your work will inspire in others?<\/strong>
\nI hope to inspire people to nurture the planet and conserve her.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Underwater photographer, filmmaker and PADI Course Director Luke Inman opens up about his passion for diving, his connection with the Sea of Cortez, and his relationship with the sea lion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[117,673],"tags":[419,417,415,420,414,418,421,152,416],"yoast_head":"\nLuke Inman | BajaTRAVELER\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Underwater photographer, filmmaker and PADI Course Director Luke Inman opens up about his passion for diving, his connection with the Sea of Cortez, and his relationship with the sea lion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mexmagazine.com\/luke-inman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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