Nausicaa’s Sea Lions

At Nausicaa, the California reserve is where the California sea lions hang out.

But how much do you really know about these adorable animals that are so good at swimming and jumping out of the water ?

What is a sea lion?

A sea lion belongs to a group of marine mammals called pinnipeds, which also include seals.

A sea lion differ from seals in the following ways:

• It has external ears (auricle or pinna), which the seal does not have.
• The sea lion also uses its foreflippers (its feet) to swim in the water and to walk land whereas on land, a seal must wriggle its body to crawl around. In the water, they use their rear flippers like paddles.
• Sea lions have a single layer of fur (they only molt once a year, in the month of May), whereas other eared seals, such as fur seals, have two layers.
  
  

Who are they?

What do they eat?

They eat mackerel, herring, capelins, sprats, squid and silver hake.

Where do Nausicaa’s sea lions come from?

Nausicaa’s sea lions are California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus). The California sea lion lives, as its name suggests, on the west coast of the United States, in California, in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

However, Nausicaa’s sea lions were not taken from the wild. They were acquired through exchanges with other European zoos (from Germany, Belgium and Holland), where they were born in captivity. 

The sea lion is protected under the Washington Convention. However, countries also have their own laws banning the capture of sea lions. In the wild the male forms a harem, which can include up to eight females and which he defends with force from other males. When Nausicaa decided to acquire sea lions, there were more males available than females from zoos. And because males get along better in a group when there are no females, the decision was made to acquire only males.

Why does a sea lion sometimes lift its flipper out of the water?

The answer is thermoregulation This is what happens when a dog pants in hot weather with its tongue out, or when we sweat after physical effort. When a sea lion is too hot, it can regulate its temperature using its flippers, thus maintaining an adequate body temperature vis-à-vis water and surrounding air temperatures.

What exactly do the sea lions do at Nausicaa?

The carers take care of the well-being of the sea lions by organising activities for them throughout the day. To keep them in good health, they receive medical training. This involves asking them to allow their carers to brush their teeth, listen to their heat rate, take care of any minor injuries, or even give them an x-ray or ultra-sound.

Carers also organise work-out sessions which aim to get them to do physical exercise (jumps and so on). At public show times, which are organised twice daily, visitors can see everything that the sea lions at Nausicaa can do.

What is their life expectancy?

In the wild, a sea lion has a life expectancy of 15 years maximum. In captivity, in a zoo or a centre such as Nausicaa, they can live for up to 25 years.

How is the water in the pool maintained?

The water is continually filtered through a sand filter. The water is also sterilised, as in a swimming pool, with chlorine..

The water is natural sea water which is drawn from the bay of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Its temperature varies between 18° and 20°C. Sea lions prefer cooler to warmer water, so they don’t have any problems in winter.

What are those marks on their backs?

Those are bite marks! Sea lions regularly get into "fights", but these are only games each sea lion is trying to show the other that he is the stronger. This is not real agression, and is better described as mischief…

Are sea lions playful?

All through the day, sea lions chase each other around and nibble each other playfully. When they are given toys, and they do have toys, they steal them from each other and hide them in the decor.

These games are also a way of testing their strength… but by trying hard to prove their superiority, they sometimes get hurt… Luckily, they have learnt to let us treat them and with a little antiseptic the injury is quickly forgotten.

What is their ‘cry’ called?

Sea lions bark… to show the others who the boss is, or to warn others of danger…