Sausalito’s Marine Mammal Center counted just over 1,700 of the pinnipeds sprawled out on the docks at Fisherman’s Wharf, the number of sea lions has plummeted. It is informed that a half dozen of the slippery sea mammals swam around behind the breakwall, but only hauled out at adjacent docks busy with boat traffic where men with hoses quickly persuaded them to jump back into the frigid water.
Biologists reach to a conclusion that sea lion numbers can fluctuate due to changes in food supply and water temperatures. But so far, scientists haven’t found any evidence that the mammals’ prey is diminished overall or that the warming ocean waters of El Niño would decrease, rather than increase, local populations. Joe Cordero, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said that it’s hard to say why they’ve departed.
The animals have been a fixture on Pier 39 since 1990, when a big herring run lured the sea lions into San Francisco Bay. The Marine Mammal Center gets so many questions about the 1,000-pound creatures that the nonprofit staffs a small kiosk on Pier 39; the pier’s insignia includes the silhouette of a sea lion.
It is told that normally sea lions don’t leave en masse – there should be a steady population of at least several hundred” at Pier 39. The unruly, smelly creatures’ exit from San Francisco’s piers may not be entirely unwelcome, however. This fall, as the sea lion population spilled over onto the Hyde Street commercial fishing pier and kayakers and swimmers reported more incidents of being bumped and bitten, port authorities began using a fireboat-type sprayer on the animals at Hyde Street and installed 200 feet of knee-high deterrent fencing topped with a slick roller.
