U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  1. Home

Sea Lion Diet Data

Data provided by  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

California sea lions pup and breed at four of the nine Channel Islands in southern California. Since 1981, SWFSC MMTD has been conducting a diet study of sea lions at San Clemente Island (a small rookery) and San Nicolas Island (a large rookery). Information on the diet of sea lions is obtained from analyzing scats (i.e., fecal samples) and spewings (i.e., vomitus) collected at those two rookeries in January (winter), April (spring), July (summer), and October (autumn). Otoliths (a crystalline structure within the ear organ) from fish and beaks (mandibles composed of chitin) from cephalopods are recovered from the samples by washing each sample through sieves of varying mesh size. Otoliths and beaks, which are shaped and sized differently for each species of fish and cephalopod, respectively, are used to identify and enumerate fish, and cephalopods consumed by sea lions. Also, otoliths and beaks are measured for estimating size of prey being consumed by sea lions.

About this Dataset

Updated: 2025-04-21
Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-04T13:50:33.909Z
Date Created: N/A
Data Provided by:
Dataset Owner: N/A

Access this data

View JSON data
Contact dataset owner Access URL
Table representation of structured data
Title Sea Lion Diet Data
Description California sea lions pup and breed at four of the nine Channel Islands in southern California. Since 1981, SWFSC MMTD has been conducting a diet study of sea lions at San Clemente Island (a small rookery) and San Nicolas Island (a large rookery). Information on the diet of sea lions is obtained from analyzing scats (i.e., fecal samples) and spewings (i.e., vomitus) collected at those two rookeries in January (winter), April (spring), July (summer), and October (autumn). Otoliths (a crystalline structure within the ear organ) from fish and beaks (mandibles composed of chitin) from cephalopods are recovered from the samples by washing each sample through sieves of varying mesh size. Otoliths and beaks, which are shaped and sized differently for each species of fish and cephalopod, respectively, are used to identify and enumerate fish, and cephalopods consumed by sea lions. Also, otoliths and beaks are measured for estimating size of prey being consumed by sea lions.
Modified 2025-04-04T13:50:33.909Z
Publisher Name N/A
Contact N/A
Keywords California Sea Lion , abundance , diet , ecosystems , habitat , pinniped , rookeries , scats , spewings , autumn , spring , summer , winter , California , San Clemente Island , San Nicolas Island , United States , DOC/NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC > Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. U.S. Department of Commerce , Biological Data , biota , oceans 
{
    "identifier": "gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:30917",
    "accessLevel": "public",
    "contactPoint": {
        "@type": "vcard:Contact",
        "fn": "Your contact point",
        "hasEmail": "mailto:[email protected]"
    },
    "programCode": [
        "010:000"
    ],
    "landingPage": "",
    "title": "Sea Lion Diet Data",
    "description": "California sea lions pup and breed at four of the nine Channel Islands in southern California. Since 1981, SWFSC MMTD has been conducting a diet study of sea lions at San Clemente Island (a small rookery) and San Nicolas Island (a large rookery). Information on the diet of sea lions is obtained from analyzing scats (i.e., fecal samples) and spewings (i.e., vomitus) collected at those two rookeries in January (winter), April (spring), July (summer), and October (autumn). Otoliths (a crystalline structure within the ear organ) from fish and beaks (mandibles composed of chitin) from cephalopods are recovered from the samples by washing each sample through sieves of varying mesh size. Otoliths and beaks, which are shaped and sized differently for each species of fish and cephalopod, respectively, are used to identify and enumerate fish, and cephalopods consumed by sea lions. Also, otoliths and beaks are measured for estimating size of prey being consumed by sea lions.",
    "language": "",
    "distribution": [
        {
            "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
            "mediaType": "application\/json",
            "accessURL": "https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/metadata\/geoportal\/\/rest\/metadata\/item\/gov.noaa.nmfs.inport%3A30917"
        },
        {
            "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
            "mediaType": "text\/html",
            "accessURL": "https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/metadata\/geoportal\/\/rest\/metadata\/item\/gov.noaa.nmfs.inport%3A30917\/html"
        },
        {
            "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
            "mediaType": "application\/xml",
            "accessURL": "https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/metadata\/geoportal\/\/rest\/metadata\/item\/gov.noaa.nmfs.inport%3A30917\/xml"
        }
    ],
    "bureauCode": [
        "010:04"
    ],
    "modified": "2025-04-04T13:50:33.909Z",
    "publisher": {
        "@type": "org:Organization",
        "name": "Your Publisher"
    },
    "theme": "",
    "keyword": [
        "California Sea Lion",
        "abundance",
        "diet",
        "ecosystems",
        "habitat",
        "pinniped",
        "rookeries",
        "scats",
        "spewings",
        "autumn",
        "spring",
        "summer",
        "winter",
        "California",
        "San Clemente Island",
        "San Nicolas Island",
        "United States",
        "DOC\/NOAA\/NMFS\/SWFSC > Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. U.S. Department of Commerce",
        "Biological Data",
        "biota",
        "oceans"
    ]
}