Maureen Walker, age 11, of Ely, Nev., for her question:
Is it true that the sea lion is not a seall?
The seal at the circus can balance a ball on the end of his nose. He can also toot a tune, sway to the rhythm of the music, clap his flippers and bark to demand a bit of juicy raw fish. He thoroughly enjoys the performance and so do we. In the midst of these merry antics, it is very annoying to have a scholarly friend tell us that the charming performer is not a seal at all, but a California sea lion.
The fact is, your scholarly friend is wrong. Chances are, he knows something about the scientific classification of animals but not enough. What's more, he has mixed up his science talk with everyday talk. In common language, a seal is any fin footed animal, except the walrus. This means that, in ordinary language the charming performer is certainly a seal because that is what ordinary people call him.
When it comes to placing the sea lion in his proper scientific slot, we may run into some confusion. He certainly belongs with the fur seals, the hair seals, the sea elephants and the tusky walruses in the order Pinnipedia meaning the fin footed ones. All of them are sea going, air breathing, warm blooded, meat eating mammals. All the members of Pinnipedia have fin footed flippers in place of walking legs.
However, there are some marked differences in the fin footed animals and the order Pinnipedia is subdivided into three families, The walrus is so individual that he has a family of his own, The other two families are often confusing,
The Phocidae family is better suited for life in the water. These fellows are the hair seals which may not come near the land for weeks at a time.
Their hind flippers are straight out behind and cannot be bent up under their bodies and on land these animals are almost helpless. They have no external ears, For some reason, these hair coated animals are also called the true seals. This is confusing, because when we think of them as the true seals, then all other seals must be false.
The California sea lion belongs in the family Otariidae, along with the Alaska fur seal and the larger Steller sea lion. Though he roams off the shores of California, he is found a s far south a s southern Mexico and on far northern Pacific islands. He has a pair of furry outer ears and he can bend his back flippers under his body. This makes it possible for him to shamble about on the land. He loves to spend hours on rocky isles, lolling and basking in the sun.
The hair seals have coats of coarse hair and depend ;upon pads of blubber to keep them warm. The eared seals and the sea lions have coats of short plushy fur. The valuable fur seal has 1ong coarse guard hairs growing among his plushy undercoat. The sea lion has a curly mane which is slicked down when he is wet and shows only when his coat is dry.