Sea Lion, intelligent, slender-bodied seal, well known for its balancing acts as a circus performer and its presence in almost every zoo. A gregarious personality, combined with remarkable speed and agility on land and lively barklike vocalizations, makes this seal easily trainable and appealing to human audiences. In the wild, these shore-living seals are found along many areas of North America’s western coast, from British Columbia southward through the United States to the Tres Marias Islands off of Baja California, Mexico. Some populations are also found in the Galápagos Islands.
Adult males, called bulls, average 360 kg (800 lb) in weight and 2.1 m (7 ft) in length. Females, or cows, are smaller, with an average weight of 110 kg (250 lb) and an average length of 1.8 m (6 ft). Both sexes have chocolate-brown coats and doglike muzzles. Males are distinguished by their larger size, as well as by protuberant foreheads caused by an internal bone ridge that anchors powerful chewing muscles. California sea lions eat squid and octopus as well as a variety of fish—herring, rockfish, mackerel, anchovies, and lampreys. They hunt in shallow waters and often compete directly with a closely related species, Steller’s sea lions, for food.
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