Sailing Sea Lions

Sep/15/09 10:56 AM
     
The sea lions have finally returned to our waters after migrating from Oregon and California. The males will migrate, however, the females remain south near their rookeries. On occasion we have had a female show up in Puget Sound, but that is rare (see posts on 5/22/09 and 1/25/09). Males are distinguished by a pronounced bump on the forehead called a sagittal crest and are significantly larger than females. One behavior that is not rare is called “sailing” and NOAA gets numerous reports of sea lions in trouble when, indeed, they are regulating their body temperature. When a number of sea lions group together and exhibit this behavior, it is known as “rafting.” Read more about sea lions on our website.




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