“Are those seals or sea lions barking out there?”

If you’re referring to those dark, slick-coated, beasts crowded onto that free-floating dock in the middle of the bay, making all that racket for no apparent reason, they’re California Sea Lions. But they’re also seals. Seals (harbor, harp, gray, elephant), sea lions, and walruses, are all members of the Pinniped family, or what we usually call seals. The sea lions’ barks, snorts, growls, and honks are like a welcome call to Morro Bay visitors. Why are the out there? Probably because they’ve discovered it’s a good place to chill. When California Sea Lions aren’t courting, mating, or rearing young, they like eating fish, sunbathing, and staying away from sharks and killer whales, and the bay provides all three. Also, the closest our sea lions come to being harassed by humans are the brief pauses of kayakers and bay cruisers. If you’re as intrigued by these boisterous mammals as most people are, take some time and get to know them. You can watch them from land at one of the bay-viewing areas in the 800-block of Embarcadero Street, near the Hofbrau and By The Bay Gallery, with binoculars, or not, and if you want to get closer, book a trip with one of our kayak outfitters or bay cruisers.