Steller sea lion seen in Moss Landing!
Just stellar! 😉
Yesterday, a Steller sea lion was observed on the “sea lion dock” below the Sea Harvest Restaurant in Moss Landing Harbor and photographed by Michael Sack of Sanctuary Cruises. The sighting is unusual, since the animals generally stay offshore. Wikipedia lists their conservation status as “Endangered.”
What is a Steller sea lion, you ask? I just learned about them, myself! Back when my status as a microbiologist was “fresher,” 😉 I used to excuse my vast ignorance by saying, “If it’s big enough to see with the ‘naked eye,’ I don’t know anything about it!” 
Later, when I moved to California, I excused my vast ignorance by the differences between “eastern” and “western” species and variants of plants and animals. I am running out of excuses, except for the quotation by Lucretius, that says something like “There is an end to our lives, but there is no end to knowledge. To pursue what is unlimited with what is limited is a perilous thing.” “The Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) also known as the northern sea lion, is a threatened species of sea lion in the northern Pacific. It is the sole member of the genus Eumetopias and the largest of the eared seals (Otariidae).” Among Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals, these “puppies” are smaller than walruses and the two elephant seals! That’s IT! The Santa Cruz Sentinel says:
“The sea lion, estimated at 2,000 pounds according to marine biologist Dorris Welch, can grow to up 11 feet, weighing in at to 2,500 pounds. Stellers are more than three times the size of the California sea lion, which resides along the coastline in abundance.”
In the past 30 years, the species has declined. However, there is a stabilized breeding colony on Año Neuvo Island that produces as many as 200 pups annually, according to Welch.
I hope to see one in person!
-Bill at
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