Where did the Bay Area Sea Lions go... You got it, the Oregon Coast! San Francisco Bay Pier 39 has been a little quiet since hundreds of sea lions left the area around Thanksgiving and apparently found a new home at another tourist attraction - 500 miles north on the Oregon coast.
Thousands of California sea lions started showing up in December at Sea Lion Caves, a popular tourist draw because of the Stellar sea lions living in the caves. The California sea lions appear to have made the trip because of an abundance of anchovies at the site, 11 miles north of the town of Florence, Oregon.
Scientists say there is no way to say how many of the newcomers came from Pier 39, where the numbers fell from a peak of 1,701 in October to just 20 by the end of November. But it is likely some did, since they easily swim 100 miles a day searching for food between Mexico and Alaska.
Back at Pier 39, the locals are wondering if their oceanic Oregon friends left their hearts in San Francisco :)
Photo by Rick Bowmer/AP - Story compliments of MSN - Associated Press
heading north for the winter
I was at Pier 39 last week and there were only about 15 Sea lions there.
Hello Melinda, I sure hope they stay there at the Coast, and don't venture into the Columbia River again! John
Hi Melinda, being from the San Francisco area this is part of a story. I got a flash on FaceBook from a friend in SF and he was all upset about the Coho Salmon not showing up in Marin fisheries. So, I sent him just a couple of days ago a story about the record number of Coho now entering the Columbia. Hey, I got smart and moved up here years ago. Thanks for your post.
How interesting!! Do you think they'll go back to pier 39 in the spring?