Seals vs. Sea Lions: What's the difference?
Known by distinctive ear flaps and barks, this very social species resides on western coasts of North America.
What is the California Sea Lion?
Meaning "fin-footed" in Latin, this unique name is used to differentiate seals and sea lions from other marine mammal species.
What is pinniped?
Needing to reach depths of 1,312 feet, this species is able to hold its breath for up to 10 minutes in pursuit of food due to slowing their heart rate and increasing blood volume to hold oxygen.
What is the California Sea Lion?
Hashtag used across social media channels to share your memories of our noisy marine mammal friends!
What is #PIER39SeaLions?
Passed by Congress in 1972, this act makes it illegal for unauthorized persons to feed, handle, harass, or hunt any marine mammal.
What is the Marine Mammal Protection Act?
Unlike Seals with their soft grunts, California Sea Lion populations are known for this distinct and noisy vocalization.
What is barking?
Adult California Sea Lions need to eat roughly this percent of their body weight per day to maintain healthy weights.
What is 5%?
The fastest of all pinnipeds — California Sea Lions are able to reach this speed when in the water.
What is 25 miles per hour?
Becoming the official mascot in 1994, this character has been a PIER 39 icon for over 31 years!
Who is Salty the Sea Lion?
Sea Lions often find safe-guarded harbors to call home due to being prey for these predatory marine species.
What are Orcas and Great White Sharks?
Distinguishable by their ability to simulate walking on land, these species are part of the Otariid or "walking seal" family.
What are Sea Lions?
At crowded rookeries (Sea Lion breeding grounds), mother California Sea Lions use these tactics to recognize their newly-born pups.
What are smells and vocalizations?
While well-developed when on land, this sense is unusable by California Sea Lions when underwater.
What is smell?
Following this natural disaster our sea lion friends began to appear at PIER 39, dubbing the docks their new place of residence.
What is the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989?
Commercial hunting in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century played a large role in this issue which led to many pinnipeds being added to endangered species lists.
What is population decline?
Distinguishable by their on land poses, these species can often be found in "banana pose" with their bellies on land and back fins up in the air.
What are True Seals?
Seals and Sea Lions are believed to have evolved from creatures resembling this modern species.
What are otters?
California Sea Lions utilize this resting technique in the water where they lay motionless with their flippers above the surface for a long period of time.
What is a rafting?
What is mating season?
California Sea Lions face these three main unnatural threats when in their natural habitats.
What is entanglement, biotoxins, and human-caused injuries?
Despite the misleading name, this species is actually the smallest type of pinniped and much more closely related to sea lions than it's name sake species.
What is a Fur Seal?
Used by foley artists to voice the orks in The Fellowship of the Ring, the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, and Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon.
What are Elephant Seal Pups?
As an extremely intelligent and playful species, California Sea Lions can often be seen practicing this breaking ocean wave activity.
What is body surfing?
Our pinniped friends reached this record number in May of 2024 due to a boom in the San Francisco Bay's herring population.
What is 2,100 sea lions?
Four species of pinnipeds remain on the endangered species list despite conservation efforts including the Caribbean and Hawaiian monk seals, the Guadalupe fur seal, and this species — the largest in the Sea Lion family.
What is the Steller Sea Lion?