Play is very important in the development of California sea lion pups and everything in their environment is a potential toy. It is not uncommon to observe them playing with rocks, seaweed and sea stars. Sadly, it is becoming much more common to see them playing with another type of toy: a dangerous toy. Garbage is entering the ocean and arriving at their remote, uninhabited islands on ocean currents. On this day, in the span of two dives I was able to collect six pieces of garbage that they were playing with including the one pictured. It is extremely sad to see how our waste is affecting them and even though it is hard to make changes, we must do better.