Hundreds of Sea Lions Suddenly Appear on California Pier

Hundreds of sea lions have suddenly appeared at Pier 39 in San Franciso, California, in the past week, according to local reports.

Pier 39 harbormaster Sheila Candor told local ABC outlet KGO in an article published on Tuesday that in the past week about 1,000 sea lions have been spotted at the pier.

"We haven't had these kind of numbers of sea lions for probably over 15 years," Candor said.

Adam Ratner, Director of Conservation Engagement for the Marine Mammal Center, told the local outlet that roughly 1,700 sea lions had gathered at Pier 39 in October 2009.

While the sea lions can be spotted lounging on the floating docks around the pier, they did not just come to sunbathe. Chandor explained to KGO that they are in search of a mate and some grub.

"There's is a huge herd of sea lions that are traveling south right now to the channel islands for mating and there's a big school of anchovy out by the Farallon Islands that has come into the Bay," the harbormaster said.

Tourists and locals can't seem to get enough of the sea lion action.

Aurora Zantile from Italy told KGO: "They are so funny and so nice, I love them. They are like pushing each other off into the water."

"It's very cute," Tiffany Shieh from Taiwan said. Meanwhile, San Francisco resident Joe Balbi told the local station, "The only reason I come down here is to see the sea lions."

However, the sea lions will soon be on their way.

"So my guess this is what's happening out in the water right now, this short term phenomenon where the fish that's normally somewhere else is coming a little bit closer making the sea lions come a bit closer," Ratner said.

Fun Facts About Sea Lions

Sea lions are often confused with seals, but you can tell these two pinnipeds apart by looking at their ears. Sea lions have small earflaps while seals just have a tiny opening on either side of their heads.

It's no wonder that the sea lions were lured to the pier with the hope of catching some anchovies as they have a diet of fish, squid, crabs, and clams. The largest species of sea lion known as the northern sea lion also eat seals.

Sea lions are a protected species. Commerical fishing is a big threat to sea lions as they can accidentally get caught, or worse, be intentionally killed by people who believe that the pinnipeds damage their nets and other fishing gear.