Bruce and Chum's MCotM ~July 2021~

Bruce and Chum are back! They are taking over Marine Creature of the Month and making it their own. So, enough of my waffle already - I shall hand it over to my plushie friends.

• Name: Steller Sea Lion
  
• Location: Subarctic, from Alaska to Russia
  
• Habitat: Coastal waters, temperate climates
  
• Diet: Fish and cephalopods
  
• Conservation Status: Near Threatened (NT)
  

 

 

Bruce thinks...

 
These sea lions taste stellar! Get it?! They may be carnivores, themselves, but that won't stop me, other great whites, orcas, and sleeper sharks having a nibble.

Chum says...

 
Stellar Sea Lions are very territorial. It's probably a good thing they like to live on isolated islands, the ladies can weigh anywhere between 240kg and 350kg! The males? They are 450kg to 1,120kg! For some context, I weigh about 10g...

Ten Jawsome Facts

1. The pups are born entirely black and weigh about 23kg.
2. Their Latin name, Eumetopias jubatus, roughly translates to "maned one with the broad forehead".
3. With a thick layer of blubber and outer fur layer, they stay well insulated on their long hunting dives.
4. They also use other tactics to optimise their dives, like apnea and bradycardia.
5. Not only are they the largest breed of eared seals, but the Steller Sea Lion is also one of the fastest.
6. Their glide velocity has bee measured at 3.4m per second!
7. As you would suspect, icy civilisaions hunted Steller Sea Lions for their meat, blubber, and skin. But did you know their whiskers were used as pipe cleaners in the 19th Century?
8. Western populations drastically fell in the 1970s, by as much as 80%.
9. They have since been under intense scientific study and political discussion.
10. Thankfully, they were taken off the endangered list in 2013 after their population numbers increased over the years prior.

 

Bonus fact! No one really knows why their population declined in the first place. There are a few theories, but none 100% confirmed.

Final Say

Bruce: 10/10 would eat again

Chum: Imma be over here, trying to not get crushed, 7/10