Branded

Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise


The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the National Marine Mammal Laboratory have hot-branded some sea lions under anesthesia to study survival, reproductive rates and the age of weaning.

"The Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) also known as the northern sea lion and Steller's sea lion, is a near threatened species of sea lions in the northern Pacific. It is the sole member of the genus Eumetopias and the largest of the eared seals (Otariidae). Among pinnipeds, it is inferior in size only to the walrus and the two elephant seals. The species is named for the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described them in 1741. The Steller sea lion has attracted considerable attention in recent decades due to significant, unexplained declines in their numbers over a large portion of their range in Alaska."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller_sea_lion

AIMG 5345