What you can do
- Swim like one. Sea lions fly through the water with their long front flippers. Point the camera where you want to go, sprint, and burst up through the surface to leap out like a porpoise.
- Walk like one. On land they tuck their back flippers under the body and gallop. It's clumsy, it's fast, and tourists can just about outrun you.
- Bark, wave and do tricks. Clap, balance a ball on your nose, roll over, backflip out of the water. Tourists who see a trick stop to film it, and that earns you points.
- Cause chaos. Bite tourists and they go flying (sometimes into the sea, then they swim back to the beach looking annoyed). Grab a beach ball or a cooler in your mouth and throw it.
- Hang out. The floating docks at the end of the pier belong to the colony. Bark at them and they bark back. Lounge in the sun, which is what real sea lions do most of the day.
- Play together. Everyone on the site shares the same cove. Send a friend the link.
Controls
On phones and tablets: left thumb moves, right thumb looks, buttons for everything else.
The real animal
California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) live along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to Mexico. Males grow to about 2.4 m and 350 kg and develop a bony crest on top of the head; females are smaller, around 1.8 m and 100 kg, and lighter in color. You can pick either build in the game.
They are "eared seals": unlike harbor seals they have small external ear flaps and can rotate their back flippers forward to walk on land. They swim at around 25 km/h and can sprint to about 40 km/h, often leaping clear of the water ("porpoising") to breathe without slowing down. They eat sardines, anchovies, squid and other schooling fish, and they are very loud: the barking colony on the docks at San Francisco's Pier 39, which moved in after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, is one of the city's most famous sights. The cove in this game is fictional, a mix of Pier 39's docks and the beaches and kelp forests of Monterey Bay.
In real life, please give them space: the Marine Mammal Protection Act makes it illegal to harass sea lions, and NOAA recommends staying at least 50 feet (15 m) away. If you find a sick or stranded sea lion, call a local marine mammal rescue center instead of approaching it.
FAQ
Is it free?
Yes, with no install, account or ads.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. It uses WebGPU where your browser supports it and WebGL 2 everywhere else. On older phones, choose Low graphics in settings.
How do points work?
Biting a tourist is worth 10 (3 if you just bit them), scaring people with a bark is worth a few, and tricks earn points for every tourist or sea lion watching. Catching sardines is worth 2. Scores reset when you leave.
Who made it?
Will Loughlin, as part of 30 websites in 30 days. The models and animations were built with scripts in Blender and the game runs on three.js and Rapier physics. Sounds are CC0 recordings from Freesound, including real California sea lions recorded at Crescent City.