Last January, the Bay Area celebrated the 30th anniversary of the sea lions taking over the docks at Pier 39 in San Francisco. Now the sea lions are asking themselves “Where is everyone?”.
It looks like the animals have gotten accustomed to the attention the visitors give them. The tourist destination has been closed since last month because of San Francisco’s shelter in place guidelines. So, the 400 sea lions haven’t had the fifteen million annual visitors since, and it’s beginning to affect their behavior.
With all the tourists gone, the sea lions seem to be jumpier and more sensitive. When there are crowds at Pier 39, the animals seem more docile. It looks like they dislike the isolation as much as we humans do!
Jack Kulp and Carolyn McArdle talked about it on the air! Listen below...