Their population has decreased approximately 77 to 81 percent from the 1970s to the early 2000s. The western DPS includes all Steller sea lions originating from rookeries west of Cape Suckling (144° west longitude). Population status and trends are reported in our stock assessment reports.
The two populations of Steller sea lions differ genetically and morphologically, and have contrasting population trends. Learn more about the eastern and western populations of Steller sea lions The eastern DPS has since recovered and is no longer listed, which is a significant achievement under the ESA. The western DPS remains endangered. In 1997 NOAA Fisheries recognized two distinct population segments, listing the eastern distinct population segment (DPS) as threatened and the western DPS as endangered. Indigenous peoples and settlers hunted them for their meat, hides, oil, and other products, and today sea lions are an important subsistence resource for Alaska Natives.īecause of unexplained widespread population declines in Alaska, Steller sea lions were first listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1990. Historically, Steller sea lions were highly abundant throughout many parts of the coastal North Pacific Ocean. They also share parts of their range with another otariid: northern fur seal. Steller sea lions' impressive low-frequency vocalizations sound more like roars than California sea lions’ barks. While they are the only living member of their genus, they share parts of their range with a smaller related species, California sea lions. Steller sea lions are named for Georg Wilhelm Steller, the German surgeon and naturalist on the Bering expedition who first described and wrote about the species in 1742. You will have a great chance to see them on our tours departing from both downtown Friday Harbor and Snug Harbor Resort.The Steller (or northern) sea lion ( Eumetopias jubatus ) is the largest member of the family Otariidae, the “eared seals,” which includes all sea lions and fur seals. We hope you can join us to see these lions of the sea before they take off for the summer. By late May most of them head out to the open Pacific and north to their breeding rookeries and we won’t see them on our whale watching tours again until the early fall.ĭuring our spring season whale watching and wildlife tours we get to see the largest congregations of Steller sea lions of the year, directly preceding their departure for their breeding grounds. Here in the San Juan Islands we see more males than females but as the population recovers we are seeing an increasing number of females and even pups! There are several consistent haul out sites we see on our wildlife tours year after year, including Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass, Green Point on Spieden Island, and the Belle Chain Islets up in the Strait of Georgia. Adults have also been seen nursing from their mothers, sometimes with their own pups at their side. Females possess incredibly strong site fidelity they will return within three meters of where they were born to rear their own pups. In comparison to the harbor seals we see on most of our whale watching and wildlife tours, the female Steller sea lions have one of the largest maternal investments of any pinniped species. Though they are giants themselves they are still on the menu for Bigg’s killer whales, however we’ve seen them fight back, especially when they are in a group. They range up to 200 kilometers offshore in the winter in search of food and they seem to have a taste for skates, octopus, and salmon (and many other things too!). They’re the largest sea lion species in the world-males grow up to 2,500 pounds. We now know more about these behemoths than we did back then. Named after naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, these animals were first recorded and described by him in the mid-1700s. They are a huge (pun intended) highlight of our whale watching and wildlife tours. Exactly what you think you should have pictured all along with their tawny manes and a vocabulary of growls and guttural roars. But somehow, when all is said and done, they’re exactly what a sea lion is. You don’t expect these hulking giants who weigh more than a small car regarding you with dark eyes and dubious looks as you drift past. You expect something sleek, dark, with a barking voice bordering on shrill. They’re not what you’re expecting when you think of a sea lion.
Come See the Steller Sea Lions Before They’re Gone (for the Summer)!
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