We were fortunate to see many animals at their most intimate today, and the island is full of the new-borns of a variety of species. The blue-footed boobies are nearly all paired up, and many of them are incubating one egg. Nevertheless, the pairs go on courting and mating, as the female may still produce more eggs.

The sea-lion pups are continuing to steal the show, with new-borns at practically every visit. But it's the birth of these very pups that the dominant bulls of the colony are looking out for: they know that within a week after a birth, the female will be in heat. The bull will follow her around until she's ready as there is always the risk of a sneaky male coming along and mating with her. When the time's right, they'll lie side by side, as can be seen here. In quite a romantic setting, this pair proceeded to copulate for a good fifteen minutes.

The males' incentive for holding a colony is to sire as many of next year's pups as possible, although he may not be around as the dominant bull when they're born. This also implies that those cute little pups, born in his colony today, are probably not his.