Sea Lion
Sea lions are eared seals of the family Otariidae, and six living species share the name: the California, Steller, South American, Galápagos, Australian and New Zealand sea lions. A seventh, the Japanese sea lion, was hunted to extinction in the 20th century. Unlike true seals, they have small but visible external ear flaps and can rotate their rear flippers forward, which lets them walk and even gallop on land, and they swim with powerful strokes of their long front flippers. In the water they are fast and highly agile, pursuing fish, squid and octopus. They are intensely social animals, gathering in noisy colonies on beaches, rocks and even city piers, where males defend territories during the breeding season and bark constantly. A female gives birth to a single pup each year and nurses it for several months. The California and South American sea lions are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN and the Steller sea lion as Near Threatened, while the Galápagos, Australian and New Zealand sea lions are Endangered.
Sea lion species
Six living species of sea lion exist, each in its own corner of the world's oceans. The California sea lion is the most familiar, widely seen along the western coast of North America and the one most often found in aquariums. The Steller sea lion is the largest of the group, with adult males reaching up to about 1,100 kilograms, and it lives around the North Pacific from California to Alaska, Russia and Japan. The South American sea lion, with its lion like mane on the males, ranges along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of South America, from Peru to Brazil and the Falklands. The Galápagos sea lion is restricted to the islands of Ecuador, the Australian sea lion is found nowhere else but southern and western Australia, and the New Zealand sea lion, or whakahao, breeds mainly on the subantarctic Auckland Islands and is the rarest of all. A seventh species, the Japanese sea lion of the Sea of Japan, was hunted for oil and skins until it vanished: the last confirmed animal was caught in 1974. Fur seals are close relatives in the same family, but they have a thick underfur and a more pointed snout.
Sea lion or seal? How to tell them apart
Sea lions and seals are both pinnipeds, but they belong to different families, and a few clues are enough to tell them apart. The easiest is the ears: sea lions have small external ear flaps, while true seals, such as the harbor seal, only have a small hole on each side of the head. Then look at how they move. A sea lion can turn its rear flippers forward and walk on all fours, lifting its chest off the ground, and it can even climb rocks and run. A seal cannot do that, so on land it wriggles along on its belly like a caterpillar. In the water it is the other way around: sea lions swim by flapping their long front flippers like wings, while seals push themselves with side to side strokes of their rear flippers. Sound and behavior help too. Sea lions are loud and bark constantly, and they gather in noisy, crowded groups, while most seals are quiet and keep more distance from each other. Finally, sea lions usually have short, smooth brown coats, and seals often have spotted coats and shorter front flippers with claws.
Where do sea lions live?
Sea lions live along coasts of the Pacific Ocean, the South Atlantic and the waters south of Australia and New Zealand, but there are none in the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean or the Indian Ocean. California sea lions breed mostly on the Channel Islands of California and the islands of Mexico, and spread as far north as British Columbia outside the breeding season. Steller sea lions range across the North Pacific, from California to Alaska, the Aleutians, Russia's Kuril Islands and Kamchatka, and Hokkaido in winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, South American sea lions live from northern Peru around Cape Horn to southern Brazil and the Falklands, Galápagos sea lions live only in the Galápagos, Australian sea lions on islands of South and Western Australia, and New Zealand sea lions on the subantarctic islands and the south of the South Island. All of them need two things: coastal waters rich in fish and squid, and safe places on land, such as beaches, rocky islands, sandbars or piers, where they can rest, give birth and raise their pups.
Where to see sea lions
Sea lions are among the easiest marine mammals to see, because many of them rest in towns. In San Francisco, California sea lions have hauled out on the K Dock at Pier 39 since 1989, with a record of more than 2,100 in 2024. In San Diego, La Jolla Cove and Point La Jolla, inside the Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve, are the best known spot, and boats in San Diego Bay pass groups resting on buoys and bait barges. Monterey's wharves are another classic. In Mexico, boats from La Paz go to Los Islotes to snorkel with young sea lions. In the Galápagos, sea lions sleep on the benches and beach of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. In South America, the Ballestas and Palomino Islands in Peru, the river market of Valdivia in Chile, Punta Loma near Puerto Madryn and the Beagle Channel in Argentina are good places. Australians can walk among Australian sea lions at Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island, and in New Zealand they rest on beaches of the Otago Peninsula and the Catlins. Wherever you are, keep at least 15 meters away and never feed them.
Behavior and how sea lions mate
Few marine mammals are as openly social as sea lions. They gather year round in groups on beaches and rocky outcrops, and these gatherings grow dramatically during the breeding season, which in most species falls in the summer. Bulls arrive at colonies first, staking out territories through displays of size and loud barking rather than outright fighting whenever possible, and many go without eating for weeks to avoid losing their place. Females arrive a little later, already pregnant from the year before, and give birth to a single pup within a few days. About a week after giving birth they mate again, usually with the male whose territory they are in, but the new embryo stops growing for a few months before it implants, so the next pup is born at the same time the following year. The Australian sea lion is the exception, with a cycle of about 17 and a half months. Mothers recognize their own pups among hundreds of others using calls and scent, and nurse them for many months between fishing trips. Outside the breeding season, sea lions are curious and playful in the water, and young animals in particular engage in social play that helps them learn to hunt.
What do sea lions eat?
Hunting is where sea lions truly excel. Their streamlined bodies and powerful front flippers allow them to accelerate quickly and change direction with precision, making them highly effective at pursuing agile prey. Fish make up the bulk of the diet for most species, with anchovies, herring, salmon, and rockfish among the most commonly taken. Squid are also an important food source, particularly for California sea lions, which have been recorded diving to depths of over 270 meters in pursuit of prey. Octopus, small sharks, and crustaceans are taken less often but are part of the diet in certain regions. Sea lions are opportunistic feeders, adjusting what they eat based on what is available locally and seasonally. They sometimes follow fishing vessels to take advantage of discarded catch.
Are sea lions endangered?
It depends on the species, and the picture is uneven. The California sea lion is a success story: protected in the United States since 1972, it grew to about 257,000 animals and is listed as Least Concern. The South American sea lion is also Least Concern, with somewhere between 265,000 and 445,000 animals, but bird flu killed at least 24,000 of them between Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil in 2023, more than 14,000 in Chile alone. The Steller sea lion is listed as Near Threatened: its eastern population recovered, but the western one, from Alaska to Russia, fell by about 80 percent after the 1970s. Three species are Endangered. The Galápagos sea lion numbered about 13,000 to 18,500 in 2022 and suffers in El Niño years, when its fish disappear. The Australian sea lion has about 10,000 to 12,000 animals, and in South Australia it has halved in 40 years. The New Zealand sea lion has fewer than 5,000 adults and is expected to keep falling, because of bycatch in squid fisheries and disease at the Auckland Islands. Conflicts with fishermen, entanglement in nets and debris, and warming seas that move their prey threaten all of them.
Where it is found
The Sea Lion can be found in places such as:
