Wildlife
Steller sea lions are the largest of the eared seals and are highly aggressive in the breeding season. The males haul out on to rocky shores and then hang on to their hard won territories at any cost. The strongest males might guard a harem of up to 30 females. Steller sea lions are skilled and opportunistic marine predators of squid and fish. One of their prey, the walleye pollack, is commercially exploited and the resulting competition for resources may help explain the recent, serious decline in the Alaskan populations.
Scientific name: Eumetopias jubatus
Rank: Species
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
Steller sea lions
Steve Backshall takes to the waters of British Columbia and finds some monsters of the deep.
Steve Backshall takes to the waters of British Columbia. He’s in search of some monsters of the deep seas and he certainly finds them.
Stellar performance
A Steller sea lion has the guts, speed and brains to survive an orca attack.
A Steller sea lion has the guts, speed and brains to survive an orca attack.
The Steller sea lion can be found in a number of locations including: Arctic, Asia, North America, Russia. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Steller sea lion distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Endangered
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) also known as the northern sea lion and Steller's sea lion, is a near threatened species of sea lion in the northern Pacific. It is the sole member of the genus Eumetopias and the largest of the eared seals (Otariidae). Among pinnipeds, it is inferior in size only to the walrus and the two elephant seals. The species is named for the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described them in 1741. The Steller sea lion has attracted considerable attention in recent decades due to significant, unexplained declines in their numbers over a large portion of their range in Alaska.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Adapted to swimming
Carnivorous
Colonial
Acoustic communication
Polygynous
Predator
Social
Sexual dimorphism
Territorial
Viviparous