California Sea Lion

When exploring the Intertidal Zone, you never know what you will find. Sitting on a rock was this sickly California Sea Lion. This pup appeared to be underfed and exhausted. It might have been affected by rough waters caused by a recent hurricane off the coast of Mexico. Or it may just be sick. We called the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. This wonderful organization takes care of sickly marine mammals, nurses them back to health, and releases them back into the ocean. When we called the center, they told us that they already knew about the pup and were just watching it for a while to see what it would do. California Sea Lions are mammals. They have fur, warm blood, they nurse their young, and they give birth to live babies. California Sea Lions are different than Harbor Seals. See the cute little ears flaps on this guy? Harbor Seals do not have ear flaps. Harbor Seals are fat and California Sea Lions are thinner. California Sea Lions have a longer first bone in their flipper. Harbor Seal flippers are short and stubby. This animal is losing its old hair and is growing new hair. This is called molting and it happens once a year. After this pup is well enough to go back in the water, it will eat lots of fish, squid and octopus. About ten minutes before we found this pup, we saw an adult California Sea Lion swimming around in the waves near the shore. Hopefully, the little guy will join his friends back in the water very soon.


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