At maturity male California sea lions are much larger than females. During swimming, they use their whiskers in a similar way and move their whiskers ahead of a full turn, so the whiskers are constantly scanning the space that the head and body are about to move in to.

But sea lion whiskers are oval. Sea lions use their whiskers for hunting fish, where they can feel the fish moving with their whiskers in the water before capturing them.

South American sea lions use vibrissae to find food, to avoid predators, to navigate in dark or muddy waters and to interact with other sea lions on land! Seals, sea lions and walruses possess the largest whiskers of any mammal. But sea lion whiskers are oval. Th lionesses don't have whiskers for these obvious reasons (1) Disney isn't quite realistic (2) It makes them more feminine Men's beards are called "whiskers" So this could also be to distinguish the males/lions from the females/lionesses.

Sea lions will use their hind flippers to steer and swim using their front flippers. Coloration.

Pinnipeds like seals and sea lions use their whiskers to hunt their prey in dark and turbid situations. One thing that makes it hard for researchers is that Sea Lions form large groups. Whiskers of terrestrial mammals have two blood sinuses and are supplied by ~100-200 axons. Dorothy Souza, in her book Look What Whiskers Can Do reports some whisker movement during prey capture (in cats, in this case): "Whiskers bend forward as the cat pounces. Sea lion's whiskers (pictured) are some of … Walruses have the most vibrissae, at 600–700 individual hairs. CONSERVATION.

The Stellar Sea Lion is the largest of the 7 species.The New Zealand Sea Lion is the rarest of the species.There are many stories out there about seeing Sea Lions crying. Female California sea lions reach about 1.5 to 2 m (5–6.5 ft.) and 50 to 110 kg (110–240 lbs.). Body Shape. We do not currently have sea lions at the Zoo. All mammals have hair at least at some point in their life cycle. no , it's not the only animal. Mr. Szanto’s answer is correct. Their whiskers are extremely sensitive and rotate around in the … Most mammals have facial whiskers (humans are unusual in that regard) which, when cut in cross-section, are circular. A California sea lion has a fusiform body shape that is sleek and streamlined. “Now that we’ve learned that sea lions move their whiskers the most and can orient the most to contact, we want to see if they are capable of task-specific whisker movement – using their whiskers much like we move our fingertips,” says Grant. Animals that do not whisk, but have motile whiskers, presumably also gain some advantage from the investment in musculature. The whiskers are not used for sleeping. Sea lions are noisy animals, and they have excellent hearing. Male California sea lions do have a full, round neck and develop a bony sagittal crest atop the skull cap as they mature that makes for a cool silhouette, but without the mane it doesn't really read "lion", and females of all the species never develop the truly lion-like physical features that ultimately must have inspired the name. The California sea lion has 38 whiskers on each side of its face, which can grow up to 20 cm. For example, captive sea lions who have learned to balance balls on their noses have been shown to move their whiskers ahead of their heads to sense and control the ball. Also, they’re super helpful with balancing objects such as a ball. When underwater, visibility can be very poor, but these creatures have a way around that. Sea lions are able to detect these wakes and follow them, just by using their whiskers. Mr. Szanto’s answer is correct. Most mammals have facial whiskers (humans are unusual in that regard) which, when cut in cross-section, are circular.