While the public is barred from the end of the damaged Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf following the catastrophic collapse on Dec. 23, sea lions have continued to call the place home.
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According to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s website, the most abundant pinniped in the sanctuary is the California sea lion.
The word “pinniped” means fin- or flipper-footed, and refers to the marine mammals that have front and rear flippers.
This group includes seals, sea lions and walruses, all animals that live in the ocean but can come on land for long periods of time. A minimum of 12,000 are probably present at any given time in the region.
Most creatures of this species breed on the Channel Islands off Southern California, Baja and mainland Mexico. Sea lions often congregate in herds or rafts of up to 1,500.