A female sea lions’ pregnancy produces 1 pup and lasts about 11 months. Males become quite aggressive and protect their territory from other males by barking, growling and patrolling around.
#LION GROWL HUMP FREE#
Females are free to move between the territories and choose their favorite.
In preparation, adult males make their way to the breeding grounds, where each establishes a territory for himself. Breeding season takes place during the hot months of June, July and August. The best time to interact with the California Sea Lions in Baja California Sur is off the breeding season. Seen in Cabo and the area from late summer to spring – September to May, in water temperatures of 15-30 C/60-86 F. We love swimming and playing with these amazing animals, and are lucky to have a few places we can almost guarantee in-water encounters – Los Islotes national park near La Paz where the largest breeding colony of the southern Baja population lives (it is also the world’s most southern breeding ground of the species) Land’s End dive site in Cabo San Lucas marine park and while swimming in open ocean during our Striped Marlin Expeditions off the shores of Magdalena Bay. There are 5 distinct populations of California Sea Lions, with breeding grounds on different islands along the coasts of the Baja California peninsula and California state. Sardines, mackerel and squid are some of their favorites, along with local species in their neighborhood. But when they get hungry, the open ocean is their hunting ground.
Walking around the marina in Cabo San Lucas, you can see them resting on the docks or cruising around under the piers foraging for fisherman’s leftovers. We usually see California Sea Lions in groups, on rocks and surfaces near the shore. They can be seen throughout the west coasts and islands of North and Central America, from Alaska to Costa Rica, resting on rocky shores, piers and navigational buoys, hunting in open ocean miles off shore. That’s almost 5 times more then females!Ĭalifornia Sea Lions have been recorded diving as deep as 400 meters, but usually do not go more then 80-90 meters deep. Males can grow up to 2.5 meters/7 feet and weigh 520 kg/1150 lbs or more. This protruding hump makes it easy to differentiate between males and females along with their size. Males are dark brown to black and have a big hump on their forehead called the Sagittal Crest. Female California Sea Lions are light-chocolate brown in color, have a flat head, can grow up to 2 meters/6 feet and weigh up to 110 kg/250 lbs. This gives them the ability to turn abruptly when swimming in the water, all while maintaining hydrodynamics. Another interesting ‘move’ the sea lions can do is to bend their necks all the way to their hind-flippers, thanks to their extra flexible spine. They also have longer flippers, which allows them to ‘walk’ on land, though to me, it looks more like they are breakdancing. They are a part of the Eared Seals family, along with Fur seals and other sea lion species, as they have external ear flaps. As part of the Pinnipeds clade, they are very similar to seals, but have some distinctive features. The California Sea Lion is an air breathing, warm blooded, milk sucking marine mammal that, surprisingly, descended from the family of the bears. C alifornianus (specifying their geographic breeding areas). Zalophus (Za – in Greek intensive, Lophus – crest, referring to the Sagittal Crest of males, distinguishing the genus).
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