Lost and Found? The Curious Case of the Missing Pinnipeds

pin⋅ni⋅ped [pin-uh-ped] Noun:  a suborder of carnivores with limbs adapted to an aquatic life, including the seals and walruses.

Ever been to Pier 39 in San Francisco? If you have, you’ve probably seen the sea lions.

Those sea lions first appeared in 1989. Nobody knows why.

At first, people tried to shoo them away, but they kept coming back. Soon there were so many, that the docks couldn’t be used for their original purpose, which was to park boats.

At first, the boat owners and the merchants who owned businesses at Pier 39 were upset. The sea lions were loud and smelly. But, all of the locals soon changed their minds. That’s because tourists began to flock to Pier 39 just to see the sea lions.

The sea lions became big business. Many of the sea lions have names. Signs point sightseers in the right direction.

There is a Sea Lion Café. There is even as sea lion web cam (http://master.livetrac.com/cgi-bin/pier39marina/live?pset=pier39marina&template=restaurant).

On October 23rd, 2009, there were 1701 sea lions at Pier 39. On November 29th, there were 20. Nobody knew where they went, or why they left.

Until now, that is. It appears that the sea lions have gone to a place called Sea Lion Caves.

Sea Lion Caves is in Oregon, about 500 north of San Francisco. Recently, about 2000 sea lions just kind of showed up there.

"We've seen these huge pods out on the ocean - 200, 300 yards across - altogether a couple thousand sea lions," said Steve Saubert, co-owner of Sea Lion Caves, a private preserve near the town of Florence. "They were just here all of a sudden."

So why the sudden move from San Francisco to Oregon?

One of the sea lion’s favorite foods is herring.

Normally, large numbers of herring show up in San Francisco Bay during January and February. This year, very few herring appeared. It is believed that this lack of herring is the result of a warm ocean current in the central Pacific Ocean called El Nino.

Last summer’s El Nino’s was warmer than normal (the large orange band above is El Nino). As a result, many creatures who like colder water, such as anchovies, smelt, squid and herring, moved north, away from El Nino. The sea lions, apparently, are simply following their food supply.