The Sea Lions of San Francisco

They are definitely the real stars of the pier ! The Sea Lions of San Francisco! They have affectionately been nicknamed “Sea-Lebrities.” These elephant seals, also known as California sea lions, are not actally seals, so don’t mistake them for seals—they don’t like the comparison! If you want to know how to quickly differentiate them, basically, seals are more comfortable in the water and struggle to move on land; you’ll see them mostly crawling. On the other hand, sea lions can somewhat walk. Also, check if there are significant size differences between the animals. For seals, males and females are roughly the same size, whereas with sea lions, males can be up to three times the size of females. Moreover, unless you’re at the zoo, you’re not supposed to see them in the same geographical areas. The 18 species of seals live in Arctic regions! And the 14 species of sea lions live in the Pacific Ocean and southern seas. You sure learn a lot with this visit, don’t you? Well, end of the Science Magazine epilogue. The elephant seals of San Francisco arrived at Pier 39 in 1990, after the earthquake of ’89. Initially, there were only about ten of them, but they quickly realized that the place was quite nice. Plenty of space on the docks, plenty of food — these animals will eat anything and everything — and on top of that, there is a great environmental law that protects them. Maybe, somewhere they knew about this, in any case they settled down for good! The population grew to over 300 before reaching a record of 1701 in November 2019! In summer, they migrate south to breed away from prying eyes, but a small group remains permanently on the docks. They are known to be intelligent, playful, and noisy, and although they enjoy human company, they can bite if they feel provoked, so you’ve been warned!