Can you tell the difference between seals and sea lions? Despite both animals being found in similar areas along the West Coast, they’re quite different in some ways and very similar in others.
Luckily, a new video from the Marine Mammal Care Center offers a simple yet effective way to highlight the difference between seals and sea lions.
Check it out:
The hilarious video shows the release of a number of sea lions and seals. The California-based organization rescues marine mammals and rehabilitates them before releasing them back into the wild. The Marine Mammal Care Center has worked for more than 50 years, so it has seen a fair share of marine wildlife.
In the video posted, four sea lions are first released. The animals come dashing down the beach as they make a break for the ocean. It then pans back to a pair of seals being released, which slowly make their way out of metal crates. Next, the video cuts to a graphic from the cartoon SpongeBob that says, “one hour later.” The sarcasm is a joke as the two seals finally make it into the waves.
The Difference Between Sea Lions and Seals
Besides the fact that sea lions appear to be a lot quicker on land. What else is different?
According to the National Park Service, sea lions have ear flaps, while seals only have holes where their ears are.
Also, while both animals have two front flippers, sea lions can use their back flippers almost like another leg. This allows them to walk on land, whereas seals have to drag their bodies. That’s because sea lions can rotate their back flippers under their bodies. Seals cannot, so they need to scoot themselves on their bellies.
The final way to know which is which is by hearing the animal. Seals tend to be a lot quieter, but if you’ve ever been to places like La Jolla in San Diego or the piers in San Francisco, sea lions make themselves well known and are quite noisy.