Sea Lions - (with a bark, not a roar)

Will you just look at that face?! In case you think (like I do) that the face of a Steller Sea Lion (also known as a Northern Sea Lion) rivals the sweetest domestic pooch’s face, remember - this fellow is no household pet. When he’s fully grown he’ll weigh in at an un-beagle-like 2,400 pounds and measure almost 8 feet in length.

When our SF Bay Whale Watching boat travels by the buoy where Steller and California Sea Lions haul out we always slow down for the show. Several sea lions are often seen swimming around the buoy waiting for the swells to tip the buoy so that they can leap aboard.



It doesn’t seem to matter if there is actually any available room aboard when they attempt that leap - they just dislodge whoever is already there.


Here’s something you’ve got to hear as well as see - a “raft” of sea lions.
Scores of mixed species just hanging out, miles from shore, barking, nosing each other, diving, swimming barely under the surface, playing, moving in unison, disappearing underwater then reappearing as a group several yards away, coming right up to the boat as if they are going to take your picture, or suddenly turning en mass and heading off in the opposite direction as if they are late for an appointment. Sea lion rafting is one of my favorite spectator sports.


At SF Bay Whale Watching we know that you are eager to see the Farallon Islands. Probably you associate them with the lore of the “Devil’s Teeth” myths and White Sharks, Killer Whales, perhaps the Gold Rush era “Egg Wars”. Few San Franciscans have seen the islands so naturally you are curious. Here’s another reason you should be excited to see the Farallones - the sea lions will be perched high, really high, up along the ridges and peaks of the islands - its a grand sight.


You ask yourself how those big tubs (with the cute faces) lug themselves all the way up those craggy slopes - how?! The why is obvious - remember you are looking at the infamous "Devil’s Teeth" - think White Sharks, Killer Whales...

Photos and text by Kathleen Jacques.