California Sea Lion

Design

Yinan Chen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The sea lion uses a system of echolocation to navigate while under water and to find food. A mother leaves her newborn pup while she goes hunting. To relocate each other, they “bark” until they find one other. The mother then smells the pup to completely identify it as her own. While underwater, the sea lion can open its mouth to capture prey without swallowing water because of special muscles that close off the nostrils, larynx, and esophagus.

Features

• The sea lion has a brownish coat with lighter coloring on its belly and sides.
• It has front flippers as well as two back flippers. These flippers are all coated with short, dark stubble.
• The sea lion has tiny external ear flaps.

Fun Facts

• A sea lion can be easily trained, making it a great attraction at circuses and aquariums.
• These animals have been known to “adopt” an abandoned pup.
• The sea lion can rotate its hind flippers underneath its body to help it walk on land.
• The sea lion swims using a sweeping motion of its two large front flippers, using the hind flippers to steer.
• It can sleep while floating in water.