Seattle has been put on the musical map by many musical genres: grunge, alt rock, hip-hop, and more. Now one West Ballard resident is working to bring another sound to fame: the crooning tones of sea lions.
The chorus shows up every fall when a host of sea lions roll into position at the foot of Seattle’s Sunset Hill and start belting out the tunes. They stick around through winter,, and by spring they are off to other far-flung beaches and sea breaks, leaving behind a trail of sad listeners — parents and kids included — who miss the mournful, extremely loud bellowing.
Luckily, Chris Mills has created a way for you and your kids to get your daily dose of marine barking: Just push the play button at SeaLionRadio.com — “ideally with headphones on,” says Chris.
An invitation for kids to use their imagination
If you’ve got a child who loves the sea lions, Sea Lion Radio is an opportunity to paint a picture with their mind and conjure up the scene of the sea lions when they were recorded. Suggest that your child close their eyes while listening and sit in a place with no distractions. Listen for the singing, but also for all the sounds around the sea lions when their groans and barks were recorded just off the Ballard Locks. Ask kids to listen for and imagine:
- Fishing boats
- Tug boats moving barges
- Kayakers and paddle boarders
- Floatplanes and airplanes flying overhead
- Any trains?
- People talking while watching the sea lions.
- What else do they hear or imagine?
“What I hope kids would take away from listening is a spark of curiosity about the natural world,” Mill said. “There is so much going on in nature that is beautiful, fascinating, and sometimes even funny, but it’s easy to miss if you don’t take the time to look. A spark of curiosity will keep the kids looking and discovering, maybe even eventually helping us learn more about how nature works and how we can take better care of it.”
Give it a minute
Mills, a self-proclaimed snort curator, suggests listening for at least 15 minutes: “With a shorter listen, everything might sound the same and you’ll come away thinking I’m some kind of crackpot,” he stresses on his website. “Importantly, there are big differences in activity over time. Sometimes it’s just a few comical groans, sometimes it’s a full-on yell fest, and sometimes you can hear ‘em pile into the water to chase a paddle boarder.”
Mills said he hopes families listening to the sea lions together will lead to conversations about what they’re hearing, and a shared desire to learn more. And he hopes it leads to a lot of questions:
“What are these animals saying to each other? Could we go to see them in person someday? Did you know they swim up here from California every year? How do they even find this place? What does the family pet do when they hear this, and would they understand what the sea lions are saying?”
The Sea Lion Radio sticker
Getting the word by mouth and sticker
The Sea Lion Radio sticker
Miller’s website has a pretty cool graphic of a singing sea lion. And if you and your kids send him a message, he’ll send you five stickers of the image. The stickers are more than marketing for Sea Lion Radio, Mills says.
“You would be promoting interest in this amazing group of animals. We are lucky to have them. This is not intended to be a money-making enterprise.”
