Is the sea lion dangerous? Sea lion

Sea lions are members of the eared seal family. There are only 5 species in the world sea ​​lions- northern, southern, New Zealand, Australian and Californian. All of them are quite similar both to each other and to fur seals, which are their closest relatives.

New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri).

Like all pinnipeds, sea lions have a streamlined body, a small head and flattened, flipper-like limbs. But there are some differences. The body of these animals is relatively more slender and flexible than that of other seal species. The neck is also relatively long and very flexible, the paws are very mobile, and sea lions move quite deftly even on land (which cannot be said about other seals). In the water they show real miracles of acrobatics. The skull of these animals has a well-defined brain section, the eyes are large and slightly convex. Thick vibrissae (often called whiskers) can be seen on the face of sea lions. In general, sea lions are the most active and intelligent of all pinnipeds. The fur of these animals also differs in quality from the fur of other seals; it is short and less dense. On the neck of males, the hair is longer and forms a kind of short mane, for which they got their name. Sea lion fur is not valued as much as fur fur seals. The color of these animals is dark brown, often almost black. The body length can reach up to 2 m, and the weight of large males can be up to 300 kg. Females are much smaller, weighing only 90 kg.

Female sea ​​lion.

Sea lions - inhabitants Southern Hemisphere. They can be found on the banks South America, Australia, New Zealand and only the California sea lion has moved north to subtropical zone. All species of sea lions live on the open coasts of seas and oceans, and are found both on rocky and sandy beaches and even in thickets of grass. Thanks to their intelligence and general mobility, these animals have even mastered cultural landscapes.

California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) often rest on the piers of San Francisco.

Like all eared seals, sea lions lead a gregarious lifestyle, but their aggregations are not as numerous and crowded as those of fur seals. Animals often go out open ocean, where they can spend whole days without going onto land, so it is not uncommon to meet a sea lion at a great distance from the coast. However, sea lions do not make seasonal migrations, but roam within 5-25 km from the coast. Sea lions communicate with each other using different sounds, but their voices have less roar and growl than those of fur seals.

Sea lions have built a rookery on coastal rocks.

Sea lions feed on fish, mollusks, and crustaceans. They find mollusks at the bottom, diving to a depth of up to 90 m, and pursue fish with great dexterity. In water, these animals move like birds, actively rowing with their forelimbs. Since sea lions live in more warm waters than most pinnipeds, they do not accumulate large reserves of fat.

A sea lion caught a urchin fish. In case of danger, this fish swells and now the sea lion cannot handle such prey.

Reproduction occurs once a year, but the rut of sea lions is calmer than that of elephant seals or seals. Males occupy permanent areas on the shore, the boundaries of which are protected from alien invasion. Sometimes males get into fights with each other, but they are never as fierce as those of elephant seals and seals. Each male gathers around himself a harem of 10-12 females. Non-breeding individuals stay separately along the edges of the rookery. Pregnancy in females lasts a year. Females give birth to cubs in a harem and immediately mate with males again. Baby sea lions are born with golden fur. For the first few days, the mother stays with the baby inseparably; after mating with the male, she begins to go out to sea. Feeding in sea lions is different from others related species long-term, the female feeds the cub with milk for 5-7 months.

After the first moult, the young animals get lost in separate group. Future life young are passed in such bachelor herds until the animals become sexually mature. Females begin to reproduce in the third year of life, and males, due to high competition, acquire harems only by 5-7 years. Sea lions live for about 20 years.

In nature, sea lions are attacked by sharks and killer whales, and some animals die in collisions with ships. Interestingly, lions use their natural intelligence to protect themselves from predators. There is a known case when a sea lion, having collided with a killer whale on the open sea, approached the yacht. An absolutely wild animal demonstrated to people with all its appearance that it needed help and asked for protection.

Sea lions are the few animals that have escaped the fate of mass destruction. The low economic benefit from catching sea lions saved these animals from being hunted. In California, the number of these animals has even increased. At the same time, some subspecies of sea lions (Auckland New Zealand sea lion) need protection due to displacement from their rookeries by people.

By scientific classification sea ​​lions belong to the eared seal family. But in their appearance and way of life they differ significantly from their closest relatives. That is, from cats too. Who are they - these carnivorous mammals? And what does the ocean dweller have in common with the large cats found in the savannahs? The answer to this question is quite simple: in mature males, the hair on the collar is longer than on the rest of the body, which gives rise to a vague resemblance to the mane of an African predator.

It is believed that sea lions live only in the Southern Hemisphere. There are three species of them there - according to their habitat: Australian, New Zealand and southern, found off the coast of Africa and Latin America. But north of the equator, such animals are also common. These are the Californian lion and sea lion. And if the first species is not much different from its southern counterparts (since it lives in the subtropics and there is no need for it to accumulate reserves of subcutaneous fat), then the sea lion has occupied a living niche in fairly high latitudes. It lives in Russia at Kuril Islands, in Kamchatka, Sakhalin. It can also be found in Komandorsky and Alaska and the coast North America all the way to California.

Sea lions, unlike other seals, are amazingly graceful creatures. Even on land they are quite active and move deftly, and in the water they even show the wonders of circus acrobatics. Their skin is brown, with rather short fur. This unattractive coat and meager reserves of fat saved the sea lion species from extermination by humans. Hunting them is not as profitable as fur seals and other seals, although the endemic species of these animals was completely destroyed in Japan. Streamlined body, strong flippers, flattened small head with small, slightly convex beautiful eyes allow the lion to dive to a depth of 90 meters and chase schools of fish at high speed.

These animals can spend days on the open sea. However, sea lions do not like long migrations. We can say that these are sedentary animals that do not move more than 25 km from their beach. They hunt for fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. In turn, sea lions become prey for killer whales and settle in colonies, but not as numerous as other eared seals. Their males are also more peaceful - all fights for the harem are fought, as a rule, “until first blood”. Females show aggressiveness only in the first days after birth. The young have golden fur and feed on mother's milk for up to six months. Females become sexually mature in the third year of life, and males in the fifth. But only at seven years old does the lion cub acquire a mane and can defend his harem. The sea lion (his photo is here) is much larger than his graceful friend: 300 kilograms of live weight versus some 90 kg of the lady.

These animals have extremely developed mental activity. They are smart, inventive, highly tamed and amenable to training. This, as well as their innate agility and grace, make them regular actors in dolphinariums. Therefore, most of us have known what a sea lion looks like since childhood. And in conditions of free life, flocks of these seals escape from their natural enemies - sharks and killer whales - by staying close to people, inhabiting piers, ports and even navigation buoys.

Many people mistakenly believe that the sea lion is a northern resident. Today we will tell you where and how the sea lion lives.

Among sea ​​creatures there is one with an unusual name for aquatic animals - sea lion. Does this animal really look like a lion? Judging by their appearance, it doesn’t look like it at all, except for one small detail... And besides, they belong to a completely different order (pinnipeds) and family (eared seals). Only 5 species of these animals live on our planet: southern, northern, Californian, New Zealand and Australian sea lions.

Appearance of a sea lion

The body of this representative of the pinniped order has a streamlined and elongated shape. His limbs are in the form of flippers. The head is small in size and is attached to a relatively long and very flexible neck. These animals are more mobile than the rest of their relatives. On the face you can see funny antennae called vibrissae. The animal's hair is very short and not too thick.

Male sea lions are much larger than females; females weigh, on average, 90 kilograms, while representatives of the opposite sex weigh 300 kilograms. The height of the animal is about 2 meters.

Where does the animal called the sea lion live?

This aquatic mammal is a resident of the southern hemisphere of our planet. When choosing natural areas, the sea lion prefers to be located on the open coasts of oceans and seas. Sea lion colonies can be seen near Australia, South America and New Zealand. The animal chooses both rocky and sandy terrain, and sometimes can stop to live in thickets of grass.

Animal behavior and lifestyle

As noted above, sea lions live in colonies (herds). However, it is worth noting that the population in one herd is not too large. And they are not located too closely in the selected territory, like, for example, fur seals.

Sea lions swim into the open ocean quite often. There they get their food and can spend several days in the water. Basically, the sea lion is a sedentary animal, although there are still some semblances of nomadism. Animals can move up to 25 kilometers from the coast. Communication between individuals is carried out through a variety of sounds, vaguely similar to a growl, but softer.

What does a sea lion eat?

The basis of the diet of these mammals are animals such as: crustaceans, mollusks and some species small fish. The very dexterous and resourceful body of the sea lion makes it an excellent hunter - it very quickly and quickly pursues its prey, and then enjoys the process of eating it.

Reproduction of sea lions and their offspring

Once a year, these animals have a mating season, during which one male gathers around him a certain number of females (10 - 12). In the future, he becomes the father of future offspring from each “his” female. Sometimes males fight among themselves for leadership, but these fights are not too fierce.

The process of gestation lasts one year, after which babies are born - sea lion cubs, which the mother feeds with her milk (during the first 5 - 7 months of life). Immediately after birth, females again begin mating with males in order to replenish the herd with new individuals a year later.

It’s not clear what prompted me to rewatch Dr. House, but this story begins with him;)

So, episode 9 of season 7... and the first phrase “How is a sea lion different from a fur seal?” The girl asked this question to her father. In the 10 seconds that my father asked and laughed it off in response to the question, the thought flashed through my mind: “Well, somehow, lions are larger in size, and seals have a sweet and kind face...” And then the girl says the answer: “Sea lions have ears...”
After that, there was thunder in my head and the murderous thought “But the child will be smarter than me.”

These ears, cats and lions did not give me peace... Honestly, I am, in a sense, an information maniac... and I will dig until I “dig it out” ;) An hour later, I was enriched with new knowledge... This is what I managed to find.

Cats, lions, seals, walruses and... all similar animals belong to the group of pinnipeds. But pinnipeds are divided... into walruses, eared seals And true (non-eared) seals .

Sea lions belong to the family of eared seals, and fur seals also belong to the same species. So both sea lions and fur seals have EARS. But there was no mistake in the script for this episode of Dr. House... the mistake was in the translation... In the original, the phrase sounded like this: “What’s the difference between a sea lion and a seal?” Seal is translated into Russian as both fur seal and seal... But seals are precisely without ears. So it is more logical to compare not seals and lions and eared and non-eared seals.

Let's start with the most obvious - with the ears;) eared seals The ear is pronounced and even hangs down a little, like a funny little ear.

Wow, such a tiny and funny ear, it’s almost invisible

But at seals There are no ears as such... there is an “ear hole”, which is not visible at all. So if you don’t look at the seal’s head end-to-end at close range, it seems that it just has a smooth head (almost Kutsenko).

Try to find the “ear hole” of a cute seal

It makes no sense to compare the dimensions of the animals themselves of both families, since large-sized representatives are found in both.

They have different flippers: real seals - small and the flippers have claws on the front paws, but Ushastiki The fins are big and you can’t give them a manicure. Because of the different structure of the fins, they move and swim differently.

Even this little lion cub has bigger flippers than a seal.

Did you find the fins?

Representatives of the eared family they walk sedately on land using both front and rear flippers; rear in to a greater extent- they turn them as if forward and at the same time under themselves.

“But she herself is majestic... she performs like Pava!”

A baby seals Not so lucky with flippers - so they act like real scouts - they move on their bellies.

Crawling, crawling, crawling….

Cat-lions swim in the water “flicking” with their front flippers, just like birds flap their wings, and their "earless" gather vigorously fingering the front flippers different sides and “steer” the tail with the rear flippers.

And I can fly... and I can fly... and I want to fly!….

Brownian movement of paws?

Lions (and others of the same family) They love to shout and quarrel, they scream like crazy and so loudly that their ears are blocked. And here "real" seals They behave quite decently, breaking the silence only with barely audible grunting.

And finally, about socialization in society. Eared seals very herd and very socially active animals. They love to gather in a big group and enjoy the sun. At the same time, they are absolutely not shy and love a lot of little things, it’s normal for them to sleep on each other.

Somewhere in the bay near San Diego

Although they write that long-eared seals on the contrary, they are individualists and rarely gather in seal flocks, but I have never seen them in splendid isolation. But they definitely don’t get on each other’s heads.

These guys behave more decently ;)

They are so different, but so cute!

These representatives of the family of eared seals received their name due to their certain resemblance to land lions - male sea lions emit a roar similar to the roar of a lion in the shroud of Africa, and on their heads there is a semblance of a mane.

Sea lions belong to the order Pinnipeds and are part of the eared seal family. There are five types of them: northern view, southern, Californian, Australian and New Zealand.

Natural habitats of sea lions

The northern sea lion lives on almost the entire Pacific coast and on the adjacent islands. Individuals of the species live in the coastal waters of Canada and the United States, Japan and other areas Far East. On the banks of these natural areas Steller sea lions establish numerous rookeries.

On the other side of the equator, on the shores and among the ocean coastal waters New World, representatives of the southern sea lion settled. In northern waters Pacific Ocean inhabited by individuals of the Californian species of these animals, which have especially high level intelligence, and therefore easily trainable.

Rookeries of New Zealand sea lions are located on the subantarctic islands located near New Zealand - Sanarsky, Campbell and Auckland. The bulk of these marine mammals lives in Auckland. In the area of ​​New Zealand itself, sea lion rookeries are very rare and few in number.

Australian sea lions establish rookeries on the southern and western coasts of Australia, as well as on small uninhabited coastal islands. Individuals of this species of sea lions almost never migrate and stay close to their rookeries.

Photo: sea lion underwater.

Description of the sea lion

Sea lion is pinniped mammal. Zoologists classify it as a member of the eared seal family. All of their species, of which there are five, are represented by individuals with a bulky, but streamlined, slender and flexible body compared to other types of seals. The size of this sea animal can be more than two meters in length. Males reach three hundred kilograms in weight. Females are much smaller than males and are three times smaller.

The head of a sea lion is small; an elongated muzzle with thick whiskers - vibrissae, reminiscent of a dog's muzzle; rather long, flexible neck. Somewhat convex big eyes. Males that have reached maturity have a fairly developed crest on the skull, resembling a crest. In addition, males are distinguished by the presence of a short mane, which is formed by the hair growing on the neck.

Sea lion in the zoo.

A sea lion looked out from under the water.
Sea lion on the shore.

As a rule, the color of sea lions is dark or brown-black. But the fur of these animals is not particularly thick, and it is also quite short. Therefore, the fur of sea lions is considered to be of lower quality and is valued significantly lower than that of its closest family relatives - fur seals. Due to their flattened pinniped limbs with movable paws, sea lions move quite quickly along the shore. And this is how they differ from clumsy seals.

Sea lions can swim freely and easily underwater. This ability is achieved due to the fact that with the help of flipper limbs, these animals effectively control the direction of movement of their body in the water column, quickly and successfully pursuing prey. As a result, the sea lion proves to be a fairly successful hunter. Hunting for small fish, mollusks, and crustaceans, it can move away from the shore to a distance of several kilometers.

Mating season in these animals it occurs once a year. At this time, an adult male gathers, as a rule, up to twelve females into his harem and jealously protects his girlfriends from encroachment by other males. At times, males fight for leadership among females, but these clashes are not too aggressive and fierce. The female carries the cub for a year. As a rule, one baby is born and is fed with mother's milk until the age of seven months.