Steller sea lion

Eumetopias jubatus · The Steller sea lion is the largest of the eared seals, living along the coasts of the northern Pacific Ocean from California to Alaska and across to Russia and Japan.

Also called Steller's sea lion, Northern sea lion, Northern Sealion, Steller's Sealion.

Steller sea lion
Photo: Morkill, Anne, Public domain
Steller sea lion
Photo: Shank27, CC BY-SA 3.0
Steller sea lion
Photo: Mike's Birds from Riverside, CA, US, CC BY-SA 2.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyOtariidae
GenusEumetopias
SpeciesEumetopias jubatus

Where it lives

North Pacific coasts, from northern Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka through the Aleutians and Alaska to California.

Fun facts

  • Among all seals, sea lions and walruses, only the walrus and the two elephant seal species grow bigger than the Steller sea lion.
  • Steller sea lion pups are born almost black, weighing around 23 kg, and stay dark for several months.
  • Mothers and pups each use their own distinctive calls, like names, to find each other in a crowded breeding area.
  • Some pups stay with their mothers for as long as four years.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).