Sea Lions

Information about Sea Lions

Sea Lion

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Pinnipedia
Family:	Otariidae
Subfamily:	Otariinae

Genera

Eumetopias
Zalophus
Otaria
Neophoca
Phocarctos

Hundreds of California Sea Lions sunbathing on Pier 39 in San Francisco.

An underwater view of a sea lion at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park

A sea lion is one of many marine mammals of the family Otariidae. Sea lions are characterized by the presence of external ear pinnae or flaps, long front flippers, and the ability to walk on four flippers on land. They are generally found in shallow waters of coastal areas of both northern and southern hemispheres, with abundant food sources.^[1]

Sea lions of many species have seen a severe and rapid decrease in numbers in recent years. Many factors including overfishing of prey species, shooting by fishermen and pollution have probably contributed to the decline. The population of Steller sea lions in Alaska has declined as much as 80% since the 1970s. ^[2] ^[3] In contrast, California sea lions are abundant and the population continues to expand at a rate of approximately 5.0% annually, as it has since the mid-1970s.^[4]

Sea lions are often a popular attraction at zoos and aquariums, performing behaviors such as throwing and catching balls on their noses and clapping.

Hybrids

A hybrid sea lion from a cross between the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) and the South American sea lion (Otaria byronia) has occurred.

Sea lions and humans

Moche Sea Lion. 200 A.D. Larco Museum Collection Lima, Peru.

The government of Japan has set a quota of 116 kills per year in Hokkaido, as sea lions are seen as a threat to commercial fisheries. International environmentalists and local fishery advocates continue to debate the issue.

The Norwegian government has set a quota of 200 kills per year.

Sea lions have been trained by the U.S. Navy's Marine Mammal Program, based in San Diego to detain scuba divers. ^[5]

Sea lion attacks on humans are rare, but have occurred in at least a single notable case, in which a 13 year-old Australian girl was attacked while in the water. Sources said that the likeliest explanation was that the animal was attempting to play with the girl.^[6]^[7]^[8]

The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped the sea and its animals. They often depicted sea lions in their art. ^[9]

References

1. ^ ANIMAL BYTES - Sea Lions & Fur Seals. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
2. ^ Clover, Charles. 2004. The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. Ebury Press, London. ISBN 0-09-189780-7
3. ^ Dalton, Rex. 2005. "Is this any way to save a species?." Nature 436, 7 July 2005, 14-16.
4. ^ Lowry, Mark S. and Karin A. Forney, Abundance and distribution of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) in central and northern California during 1998 and summer 1999. Fishery Bulletin, Vol. 103, no. 2, pp. 331-343.
5. ^ Watkins, Thomas (2007-02-12). Navy may deploy anti-terrorism dolphins. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
6. ^ BBC News: Sea lion attacks Australian girl
7. ^ news.com.au: Monster sea lion likely to be 'playing' with teen
8. ^ Sea lion mauls girl
9. ^ Berrin, Katherine & Larco Museum. The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the Museo ArqueolÃ³gico Rafael Larco Herrera. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997.

External links

Video of Sea Lions on the Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand

Monterey, California
Old Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, California nickname = The Cradle of History,
Language Capital of the World,
California's "First" City

Flag
Location of Monterey, California
Coordinates:
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses

Subclass †Allotheria*
Subclass Prototheria
Subclass Theria

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Carnivora
Bowdich, 1821

Families

17, See classification

The diverse order Carnivora (IPA: /kɑrˈnɪvərə/
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Pinnipeds ("fin-feet", lit. "winged feet") are marine mammals belonging to the former biological suborder Pinnipedia (sometimes now a superfamily) of the order Carnivora. The pinnipeds now fall within the suborder Caniformia and comprise the families Odobenidae (walruses),
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Otariidae
Gray, 1825

Genera

Arctocephalus
Callorhinus
Eumetopias
Neophoca
Otaria
Phocarctos
Zalophus
The eared seals (or walking seals), family Otariidae
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Eumetopias
Gill, 1866

Species: E. jubatus

Binomial name
Eumetopias jubatus
Schreber, 1776

The Steller sea lion,
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Zalophus
Gill, 1866

Species: Z. californianus

Binomial name
Zalophus californianus
(Lesson, 1828)

The California Sea Lion (
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Otaria
PÃ©ron, 1816

Species: O. flavescens

The South American Sea Lion or Southern Sea Lion (Otaria flavescens, previously Otaria bryonia
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Neophoca
Gray, 1866

Species: N. cinerea

Binomial name
Neophoca cinerea
(PÃ©ron, 1816)

The Australian Sea Lion (
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Phocarctos
Peters, 1866

Species: P. hookeri

Binomial name
Phocarctos hookeri
(Gray, 1844)

The New Zealand Sea Lion or
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marine mammal is a mammal that is primarily ocean-dwelling or depends on the ocean for its food. Mammals originally evolved on land, but later marine mammals evolved to live back in the ocean.
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The pinna (Latin for feather) is the visible part of the ear that resides outside of the head (this may also be referred to as the auricle or auricula).

Purpose

The purpose of the pinna is to collect sound.
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flipper is a digitless, typically flat limb evolved for movement through water. Various creatures have evolved flippers, for example most fish (although for fish the usual term is fin), as well as certain mammals (whales, pinnipeds), reptiles (turtles), and birds (penguins).
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Northern Hemisphere or northern hemisphere^[1] is the half of a planet that is north of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator.
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Southern Hemisphere or southern hemisphere^[1] is the half of a planet that is south of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator.
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Eumetopias
Gill, 1866

Species: E. jubatus

Binomial name
Eumetopias jubatus
Schreber, 1776

The Steller sea lion,
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Zalophus
Gill, 1866

Species: Z. californianus

Binomial name
Zalophus californianus
(Lesson, 1828)

The California Sea Lion (
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A fishery (plural: fisheries) is an organized effort by humans to catch fish or other aquatic species, an activity known as fishing. Generally, a fishery exists for the purpose of providing human food, although other aims are possible (such as sport or recreational
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United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. The U.S. Navy currently has over 340,000 personnel on active duty and nearly 128,000 in the Navy Reserve.
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The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP) is a program administered by the U.S. Navy which studies the military use of marine mammals — principally Bottlenose Dolphins and California Sea Lions — and trains circus animals to perform tasks such
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City of San Diego
San Diego Skyline

Flag
Seal
Nickname: America's Finest City
Motto: Semper Vigilans (Latin: Ever Vigilant)
Location of San Diego
within San Diego County
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Scuba diving is the act of swimming underwater while using self-contained breathing apparatus. By carrying a source of compressed air, the scuba diver is able to stay underwater longer than with the simple breath-holding techniques used in Snorkeling and Free-diving, and is not
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The Moche civilization (alternately, the Mochica culture, Early Chimu, Pre-Chimu, Proto-Chimu, etc.) flourished in northern Peru from about 100 CE to 800 CE. Today it is understood that they were not politically the same people as the ChimÃº or the Lambayeque culture.
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Anthem
Somos libres, seÃ¡moslo siempre (Spanish)
"We are free, may we always be so"
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Thames & Hudson (also Thames and Hudson and sometimes T&H for brevity) are a publisher, especially of art and illustrated books, founded in 1949 by Walter and Eva Neurath.
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