Where Did San Francisco's Pier 39 Sea Lions Go?
December 29, 2009 5:30 PM   Subscribe

The California and Steller sea lions hauled out at Pier 39's K dock in San Francisco have become a famous tourist attraction. The colony has occupied the spot since 1990, seemingly abandoning their traditional grounds at Seal Rocks. A fall survey counted record numbers of over 1,500 sea lions at the Pier, but they abandoned the area in droves after Thanksgiving. "We have no idea where they moved on to or why” an expert from the Marine Mammal Center said, although the Center does not believe that the sea lions have left for good. posted by gemmy (34 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
They probably got tired of all the rubberneckers and yobbos.
posted by Captaintripps at 5:42 PM on December 29, 2009 [1 favorite]


So long, and thanks for all the fish.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 5:54 PM on December 29, 2009 [15 favorites]


(tinfoil hat rant)
It's a sign, folks!! This is the beginning of the end!
(/tinfoil hat rant)

Pier 39 is scheduling a 20th-anniversary party on Jan. 15. Think the sea lions will get the invite and attend?
posted by msacheson at 6:00 PM on December 29, 2009


The Trobriand Islanders believe that seals will abandon an area exactly a fortnight before there occurs a major earthquake or tsunami. Scientists at the Scripps Institute have verified that the common sea lion, or mares felix, can indeed sense the subtle vibratory shift in the earth's volatile plasma, up to a month before the largest and most deadly quakes. A scroll in the Tokyo Hall of Antiquities records what experts in ancient script believe is the mysterious departure of creatures called "ko-tai," whose description matches the modern animal we call the sea lion, "one-and-a-half moons", or two weeks, before the 320 AD earthquake that leveled Mt. Fuji's sister peak, and brought about the catastrophic subsidence that formed Tokyo Bay. My own researches have shown that the Mississippi seal, once common in the area of New Madrid and Memphis (Fernando De Soto refers to "numerous colonies of seals on both side of the great river, providing nourishment for several tribes hereabouts"), virtually disappeared shortly before the great quake of 1814 -- and never returned.
posted by Faze at 6:03 PM on December 29, 2009 [22 favorites]


Sea Lions disappear. A blue moon. Ominous times, they are.
posted by jabberjaw at 6:11 PM on December 29, 2009


Is this just a case of all the hipsters that having been hanging out at a certain coffee shop deciding to descend upon a different coffee shop only if hipsters had cute antics and smelled of herring?
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:15 PM on December 29, 2009


There was a colony of sealions there well before 1990 (though maybe not *that* colony). I was there in '87 and '88 and they were there both times.
posted by unSane at 6:42 PM on December 29, 2009


They were probably tired of me giggling at their goofy noises.
posted by brundlefly at 7:11 PM on December 29, 2009


Thanks. Faze. My quake paranoia is now cranked to 11. It was previously at 9...
posted by mosk at 7:22 PM on December 29, 2009


We have no idea where they moved on to or why

Obviously they got wedged into scanners.
posted by Rhomboid at 7:23 PM on December 29, 2009 [4 favorites]


sorry...my bad. the first one was just sooo delicious...
posted by sexyrobot at 7:26 PM on December 29, 2009 [2 favorites]


Damn it, Faze, I completely bought it up to the "Mississippi seal" part.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:28 PM on December 29, 2009 [1 favorite]


Ha. Nice one Faze. I had to google and wikipediate Mississippi Seal before I discovered that my goat had been gotten.
posted by bjork24 at 7:49 PM on December 29, 2009 [1 favorite]


They better come back, I convinced my wife over Thanksgiving weekend we were out of time and needed to go meet a friend for dinner instead of going to see the sea lions.

If they're not there next time we visit I'm in for a world of hurt. I'll be 90 years old and reminded of the time I screwed up her one chance to see the sea lions in San Fran.
posted by beowulf573 at 8:36 PM on December 29, 2009 [1 favorite]


If there actually is an earthquake in the Bay area in the first week of Jan, Faze is going to feel really terrible.
posted by hippybear at 9:30 PM on December 29, 2009


Does anyone else remember the smell of these things? Blech. It was one of the main reasons I hated Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39. That and the fact it's a giant capitalist shameless consumer trap. Terrible place. Thank goodness global warming will take care of it.
posted by MattMangels at 9:59 PM on December 29, 2009


I saw this on the news. It seems a little scary to me.
posted by slidell at 10:01 PM on December 29, 2009


The sea lions at fishermens' wharf really put the "bark" in Embarcadero.
posted by Afroblanco at 10:54 PM on December 29, 2009


If there actually is an earthquake in the Bay area in the first week of Jan, Faze is going to feel really terrible make an assload of money on the daytime talkshow TV circuit and then start his own religion.
posted by maxwelton at 12:24 AM on December 30, 2009


Aww it makes me a bit sad that they're gone. They were a wonderful part of San Francisco.
posted by vacapinta at 3:05 AM on December 30, 2009 [1 favorite]


I was in SF for work a week after they took off. I was kind of excited to go see them, and I didn't know they were gone until I got to the pier. Even when I saw the empty piers, I figured they were all off feeding or something. At any rate, it was one of those dark foggy days, perfect for discovering a 'disappearance'. I got a few pics. Hope they come back in the Spring.
posted by Who_Am_I at 6:20 AM on December 30, 2009


vacapinta: Aww it makes me a bit sad that they're gone. They were a wonderful part of San Francisco.

Likewise. My wife hasn't been to SF yet (!!!) and now I'll have one fewer reasons to demonstrate why it is the most awesome city in the universe.

Bushman is still there, right?
posted by shakespeherian at 6:31 AM on December 30, 2009 [1 favorite]


Afroblanco: "18The sea lions at fishermens' wharf really put the "bark" in Embarcadero."

I think they're now putting the "hide" in Hyde Street Pier.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:59 AM on December 30, 2009


shakespeherian: "Bushman is still there, right?"

Bushman will always be there. Mocking us.

True story. I once saw Bushman almost get his head taken off by a karate chop. I stood with the crowd, anticipating as an older woman in military fatigues was walking across the street. She saw the crowd, and assessed us curiously, as many do...we provided the perfect distraction for Bushman's trickery. But as soon as the Haha funny funny bushman started grumbling her way, man that flip SWITCHED. She went into full stance ready to seriously kick some ass. And then for a few seconds we just stood there, all of us, wondering what the fuck was going to happen. She didn't even look around. She just relaxed, stood up straight and kept walking, and subtly trailed her right hand behind her in a quick two finger peace wave.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:13 AM on December 30, 2009 [1 favorite]


It's a sign. Of something TBD.
posted by Sassenach at 9:37 AM on December 30, 2009


Oh man I just found out Bushman has a Wikipedia entry.

And he claims to make $60k.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:45 AM on December 30, 2009


So I was at work just now, surfing MeFi. I use the plain theme at work. I glanced at the sidebar and saw my contact Gemmy had just made a post. The way the title was worded made it scan like an AskMe question. I clicked on it and started reading it. Gemmy seemed to be Asking MetaFilter what had happened to all the sea lions.

Then I got to Faze's post and it really pissed me off. What a terrible answer! Gemmy's just asking a question and this character's not only not answering the question, he's taking the piss and scaring people on top of that!

So I flagged it. Then I got smug about it and started thinking wouldn't it be cool to have an ajaxy popup thing to tell me when posts I flag get deleted, because I'm always right, and that was such a terrible answer to an AskMe.

Then I started talking about it in irc (not #mefi, other moar sekrit places), about how messed it was to post a jokey, misleading, falsely authoritative answer to an honest question from someone as nice as Gemmy.

Then someone in irc said, "it's not an askme" and I looked at the page, and looked at the header, and looked at the page again.

Then I really felt like a dumbass.

Sorry for the flag, Faze.
posted by BeerFilter at 10:09 AM on December 30, 2009 [6 favorites]


Yeah! Can't the sea lions take a freaking vacation without everybody reading into it?
posted by jabberjaw at 10:39 AM on December 30, 2009 [1 favorite]


The sea lions are stil at the Santa Cruz pier for what it's worth. Laying on each other, belching and biting like a pile of hung-over frat boys.

And the tourists think they're cute. Go figure
posted by happyroach at 1:23 PM on December 30, 2009


Those aren't sea lions. They ARE hung-over frat boys. In wetsuits.
posted by iamkimiam at 1:27 PM on December 30, 2009


Hahah, BeerFilter. Sorry to make you mis-flag. I thought Faze's story was awesome. :)
posted by gemmy at 7:25 PM on December 30, 2009




Yeah, that kinda fucked me up. Faze, in an attempt fuck with us, correctly predicted something.

I, FOR ONE, SALUTE OUR NEW SUBURBAN OVERLORDS.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:59 AM on January 10, 2010


If there actually is an earthquake in the Bay area in the first week of Jan, Faze is going to feel really terrible make an assload of money on the daytime talkshow TV circuit and then start his own religion.

All hail Faze, the Overlord!
posted by gemmy at 9:33 AM on January 10, 2010


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