More seriously
California Sea Lions have always been present in San Francisco Bay.[citation needed] They started to haul out on docks of Pier 39 in September 1989. Before that they mostly used Seal Rock for that purpose. Ever since September 1989 the number of sea lions on Seal Rock has been steadily decreasing, while their number on Pier 39 has generally increased. Some people speculate that sea lions moved to docks because of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, but the earthquake occurred months after the first sea lions had arrived at Pier 39. It is likely that the sea lions feel safer inside the Bay.[2]
The sea lions at Pier 39 have become a tourist attraction in their own right Although the reason for their migration to the pier is unclear, the refurbishing of the docks in September 1989 required the removal of all boats from that area, leaving large open spaces for the sea lions to move into. Once the project was completed, boat owners returned, but did their best to navigate around the sea lions; no efforts were made to encourage the new guests to leave. By the end of that year, less than a dozen sea lions frequented the docks at Pier 39.[2] By January 1990, their numbers had increased to 150 animals.
Owners of the 11 boats docked there began to complain about having to avoid the animals who can weigh up to half a ton, and odor and noise complaints began to pour in. Press releases caught national attention, and the sea lions began to attract tourists. Advice from The Marine Mammal Center was to abandon the docks to the animals, and to relocate the boats elsewhere.[2]
The only globull thing about this story is the bull the author pulled out of his A$$. But we already knew that.
I’d love to see some of these brain donors go to the north woods and determine why bears sometimes live in one place and sometimes another. Now being a certified redneck mountain hick by birth, I’m sure that my uneducated observations that animals go to where the food is probably carries no weight with such esteemed Einstein level intellects such as these. However since mu observation of fact doesn’t or didn’t take a 7 figure govt. grant, I think I see why they have yet to determine the source of this environmental catastrophic.