Steller’s sea lion, or northern sea lion, is the largest member of the family of eared seals – Otariidae. A bull Steller’s sea lion weighs an average of 1,300 pounds and measures approximately eleven feet long, and a female averages at 600 pounds and nine feet. They were described and named by German naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller who sailed with Vitus Bering on his voyages to the Bering Sea and North American coast of the Pacific. Steller’s sea lions range from the northern islands of the Japanese archipelago north to the Bering Straits, and south along the coast to northern California. Steller’s sea lions are voracious predators, feeding on pollock, flounder, herring, capelin, Pacific cod, salmon, rockfish, sculpins, squid and octopus. They are prey only to killer whales, large sharks, and humans. Early people of the north Pacific coast depended heavily on them for food, clothing, and boat coverings. The estimated populations of Steller’s off Alaska declined from 242,000 animals in the early 1970s to less than half of that now. Their dramatic decline is the subject of intense study and is probably the result of many factors including disease, environmental change, natural predation on juveniles, and the activities of commercial fishing fleets. Steller’s sea lions are listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.