San Francisco’s famous Pier 39 sea lions have largely disappeared, at least for now

San Francisco’s famous sea lions have vanished

SAN FRANCISCO — More than 1,000 sea lions that used to hang out on a pier in San Francisco Bay — to the delight of tourists — are now mostly gone, and experts believe they left in search of food.

Jeff Boehm of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito says there were more than 1,700 sea lions on Pier 39 in October, a record.

But by Thanksgiving, the lions had largely disappeared, and now only about a dozen remain.

Boehm says the fact that so many sea lions stayed for so long is even stranger than their disappearance.

He guessed the animals probably stuck around to eat their favorite foods such as anchovies and sardines and left to follow the food source. He expects they will be back by the spring.