They are light brown in color, with darker undersides and flippers. Pups are much darker at birth. Males may reach weights in excess of 1,700 pounds and have enlarged necks and noticeable manes. Females are much smaller, averaging about 570 pounds.
Sea lions are at home both on land and at sea.
They use their long front flippers for propulsion and their hind flippers for steering under water. Habitats and Habits Steller sea lions are highly gregarious on land and use the same sites for breeding, pupping, and resting year after year. The most well known Steller sea lion habitats are rookeries, where adult animals gather to breed and give birth from late May to early July. Steller sea lions prey primarily upon schooling fishes, such as pollock and herring, as well as invertebrates, such as squid and octopus. They can be found throughout the North Pacific Ocean from the Kuril Islands and Okhotsk Sea, through the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea, and south along the North American coast to central California.