There is an opinion that sea lions live only in the Southern Hemisphere. There they are three species – on the habitat: Australian, New Zealand and southern, found off the coast of Africa and Latin America. But to the north of the equator such animals are also common. This is a Californian lion and a sea lion. And if the first species differs little from its southern counterparts (since it lives in the subtropics and it does not need to store the stores of subcutaneous fat), the Steller’s sea lion occupied a vital niche in the rather high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. He lives in Russia on the Kuril Islands, the Sea of Okhotsk, Kamchatka, Sakhalin. Also it can be found on the Commander Islands and the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and the coast of North America up to California.
Sea lions, unlike other seals, are surprisingly graceful creatures. Even on land, they are quite active and deftly moving, and in the water and do show the wonders of circus acrobatics. Their skin is brown, with rather short fur. This unattractive coat and meager stores of fat saved the sight of sea lions from being exterminated by humans. Hunting them is not as profitable as seals and other seals, although in Japan the endemic species of these animals was completely destroyed. A streamlined body, strong fins, a flattened small head with small, slightly convex beautiful eyes allow the lion to dive to a depth of up to 90 meters and chase the schools of fish at high speed.
