Despite the spitting volcano, the earth was quiet … but probably not for long.

I scrambled across the rocks to find a dark gravel beach laid out with glossy brown and gray mounds, many lying still, others lumbering slowly or rolling, sometimes over the top of one another. We’d seen these animals on every island we’d been to—sea lions. One noticed me and looked up. It had beady black eyes and a doglike muzzle with a spiky mustache of white whiskers.

“Huh. Will you look at that?” I said beneath my breath.

An almighty bellow made me almost leap out of my skin.

I spun around to come face-to-face with a sea lion, much bigger than any of the others, rising high on his front flippers, a mound of gleaming muscular bulk. He had a lump in the middle of his forehead and his whiskered snout was drawn back in a snarl, baring a fearful set of sharp orange teeth. An ugly cut striped across his muzzle and clouded one eye.

Mr. Darwin’s voice came back to me: The bull sea lions guard their territory closely, Covington. They’ll fight for hours, and their wounds can be fatal. It isn’t unknown for them to mistake a man for an unwelcome interloper out to steal his females, so take good care.

I raised both hands and edged backward, almost tripping over one of the bodies—probably the female this furious male sea lion mistakenly thought I was after.

“Whoa there! I don’t mean any trouble, big fellow. Just let me get out of your way—”

Another bellow, this time from behind, and I turned to see a second male rearing up. He too had gashes across his muzzle and a clear set of claw marks across his chest.

I’d stumbled directly into the middle of a sea lion brawl.

The two bull sea lions crashed down onto the sand. I didn’t know if they were furious at me, or only at each other, or both. I crouched, trying to make myself look less of a threat. But the movement disturbed the sea lion to my left, and he took a swipe at me with his huge flipper, slapping me across the shoulder and sending me sprawling onto my back. He thumped down on his belly, unbalanced by the swipe, and I only just rolled out of the way as his quivering bulk sent vibrations through the sand.

I scooted backward, out of the space between the two sea lions, and crawled on hands and knees away, but now the one who had swiped my shoulder had his attention firmly on me. He was quicker than he looked, galloping toward me on those front flippers. I scrambled to my feet but slipped, and he gained on me, grunting … and then a different sound threaded through the hollers, something between a hoot and growl.

A flash of green sprang from nowhere onto the sea lion’s head. A pair of claws covered his eyes and his ear was gripped between a set of small pointed teeth.