SF Sea Lion Disappearance Mystery (Mostly) Solved

The famed sea lions of San Francisco's Pier 39 just this past October were at their peak when more than 1,700 were observed lounging and jockeying for space on the floating docks installed for their use. But within weeks, they were gone.

At first it was a local news curiosity, but news desks around the world quickly picked up on the story that the urban wildlife colony that tourists make a point to visit had left their prime hangout of the last two decades en masse.

Underscoring the global reach of their iconic status, word comes to us from the BBC that the sea lions appear to be alive and well, although hundreds of miles north of the San Francisco Bay on the Oregon coast. Marine biologists indicate that sea lions will migrate according to available food supplies, although they characterize the relocation in such large numbers to be very unusual.

We're not certain what it was exactly that attracted them to Pier 39 in the first place in the late 1980s. Sea lions have always been part of the bay's estuarine ecosystem, but their consistent presence in large numbers along the city's Fisherman's Wharf area waterfront is a fairly recent phenomenon.

At first their failure to disperse was an annoyance, but this gave way to acceptance, then to amusement and to attraction. Scores of businesses dotting the sidewalks of the tourist-friendly neighborhood began featuring goods emblazoned with images of sea lions, and people came in droves to watch them bask and bellow.

It's a relief to learn that the mystery is, in part, solved. But what remains unknown is when, and even if, the sea lions will return to Pier 39 in significant numbers. The series of docks, empty since the end of December save for a very few single remaining stragglers, remain in place, a welcome mat laid out for them bearing the message: come back soon, we miss you already.

Photo courtesy of David Ball, via Wikimedia Commons