Question 1

True or false: Steller sea lions primarily eat penguins as a key part of their diet in the wild.

Accepted Answer

False. Penguins are not in their range; they eat fish, squid, and octopus in the North Pacific and Bering Sea.

Question 2

True or false: Steller sea lions are known to migrate thousands of miles each year to breed in Antarctica.

Accepted Answer

False. They are non-migratory and stay in the North Pacific; they breed on remote islands off Alaska and Russia.

Question 3

True or false: Steller sea lions can weigh over a ton, making them the largest sea lion species.

Accepted Answer

True. Male Steller sea lions can reach up to 2,500 pounds, dwarfing other sea lion species like the California sea lion.

Question 4

True or false: Steller sea lions use their front flippers to walk on land, unlike true seals that wiggle on their bellies.

Accepted Answer

True. Steller sea lions are eared seals that rotate their hind flippers and use all four limbs to walk. Their front flippers are indeed part of their terrestrial locomotion, so the statement is accurate.

Question 5

True or false: Female Steller sea lions are significantly larger than males, a trait called reverse sexual dimorphism.

Accepted Answer

False. Males are much larger, weighing up to three times as much as females, which is typical for otariids.

Question 6

True or false: Steller sea lions are named after the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described them in 1741.

Accepted Answer

True. Georg Steller, a German naturalist, documented the species during Vitus Bering's expedition to Alaska.

Question 7

True or false: Steller sea lions can dive deeper than 1,000 feet and hold their breath for up to 20 minutes.

Accepted Answer

True. Steller sea lions are known to dive to depths of over 1,300 feet and can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes, as recorded by NOAA and other wildlife agencies.

Question 8

True or false: The Steller sea lion population in western Alaska declined by about 80% between the 1970s and the 1990s.

Accepted Answer

True. The western stock experienced a decline of about 80% from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, prompting its listing as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1997.

Stellar Sea Lion Trivia Questions