The Sea Lion (also known as alophus californianus) is a commonly seen marine animal around places like harbors, ports, docks, and other areas where boats moor. They commonly inhabits the pacific, especially around coastlines. Perhaps the most common place to spot a sea lion is in colder areas, such as Alaska and coastal Russia. This is due to sea lions being specially adapted to these kinds of climates. These adaptations revolve around a thick layer of fat that helps insulate sea lions from cold temperatures. By nature, sea lions are social animals. They are most commonly seen in large groups. This is mainly to protect against predation.
The main problem sea lions face is the typical oceanic trash. Junk such as fishing nets, plastic banding, and plastic shards all affect sea lions. This is especially dangerous, due to sea lions being very curious animals. Sea lions are easily caught in these objects, which gets tangled easily. When this happens, movement is restricted, leading to injury or death.
Perhaps the easiest way to protect sea lions is to clean the oceans and areas around ports, due to this being the typical sea lion habitat. Once this habitat is cleared of trash and other harmful objects, sea lions should be in safer hands. This can be done by using nets and other devices to "catch" trash. Of course, there is also a far easier way to fix the problem: to no dump trash at all, reducing overall oceanic pollution.
Credits:
Created with images by sebastian_photos - "sea lion galapagos galapagos sea lion" • proftrusty - "Sea Lions" • bilyjan - "guise waste line costs"