South American sea lion colony - stock photo

The South American sea lion Otaria flavescens lives across a broad latitudinal range along the South American coastline, from Peru to southern Chile in the Pacific, and from Brazil to southern Argentina in the Atlantic, including the Falkland Islands. A population estimate for this species over its entire distributional range is about 400,000 individuals, according to the last censuses carried out between 1995 and 2008. About 140000 sea lions have been estimated in Chile recently which represent about 35 % of the world population The abundance of sea lions in Chile may be associated with the influence of the Humboldt Current System, which supports one of the most productive fishing areas in the world therefore providing food resources for this species.