Southern sea lion

The full mane of a male southern sea lion gives rise to their lion-like appearance, and also to their other common name of maned seal. They are the most sexually dimorphic of the sea lions, with the males approximately three times the size of females. They live along the shorelines and beaches of South America.

The mating season begins in August when the males come ashore to establish and defend territories before the females arrive. The pups are born en-masse almost one year later. Although no commercial hunting of southern sea lions occurs nowadays, numbers were heavily depleted during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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