These streamlined animals have large fore flippers which they use to row themselves through the water. The hind flippers can be turned beneath the body to walk on land. There are two species of sea lion in the northern hemisphere, and three in the south. They feed on fish, squid, and crustaceans. Steller's sea lion Eumetopias jubatus lives in the North Pacific, large numbers breeding on the Aleutian lslands.
Females are one-third the weight.
The Australian sea lion Neophoca cinerea is found only in southern Australian waters, especially on offshore islands such as Kangaroo Island. It is the rarest sealion, with only about 12,000 existing in 1998.