Spearfishing off Sandlfy Beach

Unfortunately I do not have any photos of my most recent outing with my mate Glen, but i think the story is well worth reading. On Saturday the 29th of November, I went for a surf at Boulder Beach with Glen. We caught a few waves and had fun, but the waves weren't that good. On our hike back the car Glen asked me if I wanted to go spearfishing and collect some some Paua (awesome NZ Shellfish). I agreed of course. So we hiked to Sandfly Beach and on our way we noticed that there were heaps of seals and sea lions (Sea Lions are much bigger). As we cautiously approach our destination which was off this rocky point we notice that there are nearly a hundred seals around us...oh and a couple of Penguins, can't forget those little dudes. It was cool to see so much wildlife, but at the same time it got me a little nervous about going into the water. When we get to our destination these baby seals started to jump into the water and were zooming out of there. I later realized that they were swimming for there lives, because out of nowhere this huge sea lion is chasing one of the baby seals and eventually catches and eats it. I know sad...but its nature. As I'm watching these two Giant Sea lions devour this baby seal I'm thinking "I don't think I'll be getting into the water, not only are there sea lions and seals all over the place, but now there are bits and pieces of a seal attracting the "S" word." Glen and I never say the "S" word, i don't know why, but we just don't. Glen then say's "Don't worry mate "THEY" don't come in this shallow." After witnessing all this Glen says, "All right mate I'll go first and make sure the coast if clear." Glen gets all his gear on and climbs down this kelp and jumps in like a champ. He is in the water for a few minutes when a Giant Sea lion comes over to check him out. As Glen uses the butt of his spear gun to push the sea lion away the sea lion eventually loses interest and goes away. After another five minutes Glen says, "Coast is clear mate." I'm thinking, that's great have fun then, cause I'm not moving." Before I know it I'm climbing down this slimy kelp and in the frigid water. The water was clear and it was only 10ft deep so made me feel better, and I didn't have any visitors come and check me out. So i strap on the knife and glen motions me to start looking for Paua. As I dive down I catch a glimpse of this huge black thing out the corner of my eye, and before i know it this huge seal stops and looks me straight in the face. I FREAKED OUT, I made an underwater gargled scream and hit the surface. Glen heard me and came to my aid. This huge seal was kept nugging my fins and kept wanting to play with me, It sounds cool but it was very intense. Glen used the butt of the spear gun to push it away and the seal started rubbing up against it, kinda like a backscracher. The seal then moves to Glen legs and blew bubbles against them(it looked like a kiss). Then the seal left. After it left Glen said, "Ahh she was a sweet girl" i agreed but still prefered her gone. We explored some more area and Glen spotted a Butterfish and with amazing accuracy spear it from about 15 ft away. He handed me the spear gun and dove down 20ft to retrieve it as he was ascending our "friend" came back to see what glen was doing. This time I was using the butt of the spear gun and keeping her away from Glen. She eventually left as the knots in my stomach didn't. Glen ties the dead fish to this long rope which has a buoy attached to it. We then preceded to deeper water to explore more area. After about 30 min Glen and I agreed to go back. Glen gets back to the Kelp and started climbing out when all the sudden this Giant Sea lion explodes out of the water a few feet from me and lands on glen leg with its huge jaws opened wide and Growling at Glen about a foot away from his face. Glen yells "Bobby" (I had the spear gun at that moment) but that was all I heard, I was tangled in the kelp trying to do get nearer to help. When out of nowhere this big black Seal swoops inches from my face and I see it bite the back fin of the giant sea lion. Immediately the Sea lion leaps off of Glen and onto the big seal, I throw myself onto the jagged rocks trying to get all the gear and myself out of the battle zone. Glen and I get to our feet and look at each other wide-eyed and speechless. The Giant Sea Lion and the Seal continued their bloody battle in the water until finally the huge Seal gets away with what looked like a few wounds. As we later started replaying all the events we realize that the seal that was playing with us earlier was the exact same size and had the same marks as the one that saved Glen. This an unforgettable experience and I am thankful that Glen takes me with him to do all these crazy adventures. Cheers Glen