On the move

  

  California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) on the move off Bodega Head, 24 October 2026 

Ready for a dip

  

We paused for a picnic lunch in northern Sonoma County today (30 August 2025) and noticed a very large sea lion on an offshore rock. 

With a closer view, we could see that it was a Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus).  Note the paler fur color and the shorter snout (relative to California Sea Lion).

After a few minutes, the sea lion lumbered down the rock face to a low corner.  Note the very long flippers: 

 

 

 

 

 

The sea lion was perched on the edge of the rock, but we sensed that it might not be in that position for very long:

 

 

 

 

I thought the sea lion might continue moving down along the rock towards the edge of the water, but instead it launched (!) off the rock and dove directly into the water:  

 

 

 

Even along the coast today it was warm enough that I considered doing the same thing! 

 

Down and up

  

While helping out with a field trip in northern Sonoma County today (16 July 2024), we were fortunate to have nice views of a Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus).  

In the photo above, the Steller Sea Lion is the larger, blonder sea lion at the top.  It's surrounded by California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus).

At one point the sea lions started looking around while some birds were active in the area, which resulted in this fun head-on view of the Steller Sea Lion, and better views of the California Sea Lions for comparison:

 

 

P.S.  With many thanks to this summer's EVE 114 class for a great day in the field!

 

Porpoising lions

  

Recently I've been getting quite a few questions about small groups of marine mammals observed swimming near shore off Bodega Head.  They're moving so quickly that it can be hard to make out different features.  But most of the time these are likely to be California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) porpoising at the surface, as shown above.

In photos, you can make out that they're sea lions pretty easily, but as they're swimming by sometimes you'll only see a smooth dark back, so it can be confusing.

Sleek sea lions swimming swiftly at the surface!

Lyin' lions

 

 

Mixed group of California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) and Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus), photographed 14 July 2023.

Lean on me

 

 

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus), 20 May 2023

 

[You can click on the image for a larger version.]

 

Irresistible

  

Ahh...such nice clean waves...not even the sea lions could resist dropping in!

Sunset swim

  

Sleek sea lions swimming and surfacing at sunset, 18 October 2022

Lions, porpoises, and a mystery

  

Several Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus) swimming by while we were offshore on 21 August 2022.  

And although we saw several small groups of porpoises, here's the only photo that came out of a Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli).  They're incredibly fast:

 

 

P.S.  In part I thought I'd show these marine mammals tonight because I also had an interesting observation from shore today.  Around midday it's possible I saw a group of Risso's Dolphins (Grampus griseus) swimming south past Bodega Head towards Point Reyes.  I'm not 100% certain, but I feel that it's likely, so if you're near the coast, keep your eyes open for tall, curved fins.

P.P.S.  And I'll add a few more photos to this post.  This is just for fun, and also in case anyone can help provide input re: an identification.  During the boat trip I turned to see an animal at the surface that I couldn't identify.  I thought I saw a somewhat bumpy back and then a gap and a bulbous head.  At sea I thought through the mammals it could possibly be, even something like a Pygmy Sperm Whale.  I snapped a few quick photos in the area, and I did capture something, but it was just a glimpse (a "Loch Ness" view?).  I won't bias you, but I'll tell you what I'm thinking below the photos.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

This is the same photo as the last one, but showing a wider view:

 

 

Although I don't think the photos are good enough (at least for me), my best guess right now is a Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).  In the first mystery photo, it's possible that's one or two of the bumpy ridges along a Leatherback's shell.  And in the third mystery photo, perhaps that's part of the head and maybe the top edge of a flipper?  I'm not at all sure, so if you have more experience with Leatherbacks or small cetaceans, let me know what you think!  (And for better photos of a local Leatherback Turtle, you can review Doug Wilgis's photos from 2015.)

Checking in?

  

Well, I haven't been able to sort through my sea lion photos yet, but here are a couple more from 22 May 2022.  

A very large Steller Sea Lion approached a smaller individual.  I don't have much experience with this species, so I'm not totally sure what was going on.  

At first I thought it might be a large male interacting with a small female, but it seemed more like a mother-pup interaction.  Later I read that females have been seen nursing yearlings and older juveniles.  So perhaps this is a large female and a juvenile?

 

 

If you have thoughts about the identities of these individuals or about the interaction, I'd love to hear more.

Stellar Steller

  

We were hearing some sea lions while doing field work recently and when I looked out to an offshore rock, I could see them in the distance.  I thought it might be too far for my camera lens, but I ended up with a few interesting photos.  

The animal in the center is a very (very!) large Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus).  Adult males can be up to 3.3 meters (10.8 feet) long and weigh an average of 1000 kg (2200 lbs, or 1 ton).  They are the largest otariid (sea lions and fur seals) in the world.

The animals directly in front and behind the large Steller Sea Lion are California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus).  (I'll talk more about the differences in a future post.)  But the animals in the lower left corner are also Steller Sea Lions — perhaps a large female and a smaller juvenile.

Swimming south

  

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) swimming south near sunset on 9 November 2021.

On the rocks

  

Last night I mentioned we were up in northern Sonoma County yesterday (3 July 2021).  In one spot Eric thought there might be a driftwood log out on a rocky ledge, but when I looked through my camera lens, I could see it was a large Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus).  Note the pale fur in the neck area and the bulky profile, creating a mane-like appearance.  

Later when we looked back we could see the sea lion sleeping — check out the very long whiskers in the photo below:

 

 

 

Not long after this I heard a gull making an alarm call and we looked up to see the gull chasing a young Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).  The eagle eventually landed on an offshore rock:

 

 

 

Some nice wildlife sightings on the rocks!

Passing by Bodega Rock

  

To end this edition of pelagic week, a couple of photos of Bodega Rock as we made our way back in to Bodega Harbor on 23 May 2021.

 

 

 

8 years ago

  

Not much time tonight, but here's an older photo of Bodega Rock from 14 May 2013 — 8 years ago today!  (This is the island off the southern end of Bodega Head — home to many sea lions and cormorants.)

Lobos Rock

I've been reviewing photos from our short visit to Monterey County in late August.  Here's a view of one of the Lobos Rocks near Garrapata State Park.  I hadn't taken a photo of this offshore rock with a larger lens before.  While scanning this image, I realized there were quite a few sea lions ("lobos marinos") on the rock.  Can you see some of them?  [You can click on the photo for a larger version.]

 

Eventually I noticed there were a few sea lions near the peak of the rock. Here's a zoomed in view.  Check the uppermost right hand corner:

 

So, which route do you think the sea lions took to reach the top?

 

Fish, fish, fish!

Yesterday's feeding frenzy was impressive.  I took a lot of pictures to document the event.  I sorted through more of them tonight, but I had trouble choosing which ones to show.  Here's a selection so you can get a feel for the scene.

The fish were in very dense concentrations close to shore, turning the water very dark.  With a polarized filter, the fish really stood out, looking dark gray against the paler blue water.  In all of the photos below, the darker areas are dense concentrations of small fish.

 

 

As you saw in last night's photos, the sea lions were very active in their pursuit of the schooling fish.   

 

 

 

The fish would separate when the sea lions dove through:

 

The agility and gracefulness of the sea lions was on full display:

 

This is one of my favorite pictures, with the sea lions, gulls, and cormorants all focused on the fish below:

 

Sometimes you could make out individual fish:

 

 

 

I searched my photos for closer views of the fish.  Here's one in a Harbor Seal's mouth:

 

And one that was caught by a California Gull:

 

Because I'm interested in feedback about the identification of these fish, here are two more of the fish in the breaking waves:

 

 

From a distance and based on their schooling behavior, we thought they might be anchovies.  However, Joe caught a few Night Smelt (Spirinchus starksi) near shore today, so now we're wondering about the identity of the fish in the large schools yesterday.  If you have thoughts about it, please let me know!

 

Getting into a good school?

Well, it's getting late, so I don't have much time, but I can't resist sharing a few photos.  Remember last night when I wondered if there was some bait fish around?  Sure enough, some impressive schools of anchovies were clustered near shore today.  (Thanks to Joe for pointing them out!)  Feeding frenzies involving birds and marine mammals made it easy to locate the schools of fish.

I was a little surprised that a few of my photos caught some of the anchovies in the breaking waves:

 

A California Sea Lion swimming by (you can click on the image for a larger version):

 

A California Sea Lion diving after anchovies (its head is down to the left where you can see the fish):

 

A Harbor Seal surrounded by anchovies:

 

And one more for tonight — It was so cool to watch the sea lions chasing the anchovies through the waves!  (The dark patch below and to the right of the sea lion is a very dense school of anchovies.)

 

ADDENDUM (3 August 2018): Although we initially thought these might be anchovies, it's possible they were Night Smelt — see the post from 2 August 2018 for an update.

In the surf zone

I caught up with a few surfing California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) tonight (31 July 2018):

 

 

 

 

Also looked like quite a bit of bird activity near shore — perhaps there's some bait fish around?