Brian Keating plays with sea lions and dolphins off the Baja Peninsula

While snorkellingin the pristine waters off the Baja Peninsula, naturalistBrian Keatingexperienced a rare interspecies interaction with this"fire-eyedgoofball," of a sea lion.

The playful pup swam right up to Keatingand mischievouslytugged on his finat a place called LosIslotes, a 250-metre long rocky island justnorth of La Paz.

"It was playtime when we arrived," said the wildlife columnist for CBC'sThe HomestretchandRadio Active.

• Brian Keating swims alongside La Paz's mysterious whale sharks
• Brian Keating explores Magdalena Bay's grey whale 'nurseries'

"We had dancing sea lions all around us, quite literally, sometimes up to four of them," he said.

Intelligent, agile predators

Between May and August, LosIslotesserves as a breeding ground for sea lions.

After a 12-monthgestation period, the females give birth and remain with their pups for about 10 days before heading out to open waters tohunt.

Initially, the motherlimits the length of herforaging trips tothree days so she canreturnto the nursery to suckle her young. Oncethe pups begin to mature, herhunting trips can last up to two weeks at a time.

Sea lions are primarily nighttime predators thatrely on their long and highly sensitive whiskers to help track the various species of fish and squid that they eat,Keatingsaid.

"They're intelligent, agile predators.

"Sometimes they opportunistically team up with dolphins," said Keating, who was lucky enough to witness the event first-hand.

'Amongst this unbelievable, jubilant joy'

While in an area known as the "Golden Triangle," Keating and his crew came across a superpod of long-beaked dolphins.

"We could hear them clicking and squealing under the water," said Keating, who estimates therewere roughly 1,000 in the area.

"For the next little while wewere in amongst this unbelievable, jubilant joy. It was really a celebration of life with dolphins all around us, sometimes coming andriding ourlittle bow wave that we would create on the Zodiac," hesaid.

"During the mayhem, I did see a sea lion in amongst the dolphins, no doubt taking advantage of it all."

You can follow Keating's adventures online onTwitterandFacebook.