page_title: Steller sea lion
section_title: Diving
hierarchical_section_title: Steller sea lion / Behavior and life history / Diving
caption_attribution_description: English: Steller Sea Lion releasing air underwater (Eumetopias jubatus)
context_page_description: The Steller sea lion, also known as the Steller's sea lion and "northern sea lion", is a near-threatened species of sea lion in the northern Pacific. It is the sole member of the genus Eumetopias and the largest of the eared seals. Among pinnipeds, it is inferior in size only to the walrus and the two species of elephant seals. The species is named for the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described them in 1741. The Steller sea lion has attracted considerable attention in recent decades, owing to significant and largely unexplained declines in their numbers over an extensive portion of their northern range in Alaska.
context_section_description: In order to be able to dive for a long period of time, Steller sea lions exhibit apnea, bradycardia, and peripheral vasoconstriction. This allows them to maximize their oxygen stores and efficiently forage during their dives. In addition to those adaptations, their thick blubber layer and outer fur layer keep their body insulated during dives.
  Trained Steller sea lions from Vancouver Aquarium were placed in the open ocean at the University of British Columbia's Open Water Research Station to study their diving metabolism and behavior. Steller sea lions' dives are more energetically costly if they perform dive bouts. The aerobic diving limit (ADL) of Steller sea lions was observed to be affected by their nutritional state and feeding.
caption: Sea lion releasing air underwater
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