© Claudio Campagna
The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) inhabits both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with its range extending from southern Brazil to the Beagle Channel (including the Islas Malvinas) in the Atlantic, and from the southern tip of Chile to approximately 4°S in Peru, in the Pacific. Their movements are generally confined to the coastal regions of these seas, within the limits of the continental shelf. The species establishes various types of colonies, which can be reproductive, wintering, or gatherings of non-reproductive males. When selecting these sites, the species prefers sandy or gravel beaches, or rocky areas that are not too rugged or exposed. Along the Argentine Atlantic coast, the South American sea lion is found from Mar del Plata to Tierra del Fuego, in over 85 colonies.
Species status tables, by year.
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2021
CITATION CONSERVATION STATUS (IUCN criteria) Global Least Concern, 2016 1 Regional – Patagonian Sea Least Concern, 2016 12 Argentina Least Concern, 2019 2 POPULATION SIZE (Individuals) Global 445,000 1 Argentina (without Islas Malvinas) 184,000 2 Isla Malvinas 7,500 1 South Atlantic Islands (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands) There are no colonies POPULATION TREND Global Stable 1 Argentina (without Islas Malvinas) Increasing in Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz y Tierra del Fuego. 2,14 Isla Malvinas Increasing 1 South Atlantic Islands (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands) There are no colonies CURRENT SITUATION IN ARGENTINA Total Number of Registered Colonies in Argentina 140 3 to 11 Number of Protected Colonies in Argentina 74 3 to 11,15 Number of Colonies with Increasing Population Trends 6 14 Number of Colonies with Decreasing Population Trends 0 Number of Colonies with Stable Population Trends 0 Number of Colonies with Unknown Population Trends 133
Marine Protected Areas with the presence of the species
- Bahía Blanca, Bahía Falsa y Bahía Verde Provincial Multiple Use Nature Reserve
- San Blas Wildlife Refuge
- Punta Bermeja Faunal Reserve
- Islote Lobos National Park and National Reserve
- Península Valdés Protected Natural Area
- Punta Buenos Aires Defense Nature Reserve
- Punta Loma Provincial Faunal Reserve
- Punta León Protected Natural Area
- Punta Tombo Marine Protected Area
- Patagonia Austral Interjurisdictional Coastal Marine Park
- Punta Marqués Protected Natural Area
- Monte Loayza Provincial Natural Park
- Cañadón del Duraznillo Associated Buffer Reserve
- Cabo Blanco Intangible Nature Reserve
- Ría Deseado Provincial Nature Reserve
- Isla Pingüino Interjurisdictional Marine Park
- Makenke Interjurisdictional Marine Park
- Monte León National Park
- Costa Atlántica Tierra del Fuego Provincial Nature Reserve
- Isla de los Estados y Archipiélago de Año Nuevo Provincial Reserve
Marine areas of intensive use by the species
- Coastal environments and the entire continental shelf of Argentina up to the slope.
- Sub-Antarctic waters around Burdwood Bank and south of the Beagle Channel.
Marine Protected Areas within areas of intensive use by the species
- Bahía Blanca, Bahía Falsa y Bahía Verde Provincial Multiple Use Nature Reserve
- San Blas Multiple Use Nature Reserve
- Caleta de los Loros-Pozo Salado-Punta Mejillón Multiple Use Reserve
- Islote Lobos National Park and National Park
- Puerto Lobos Protected Natural Area
- Península Valdés Protected Natural Area
- Punta León Protected Natural Area
- Punta Tombo Marine Protected Area
- Patagonia Austral Interjurisdictional Coastal Marine Park
- Rocas Colaradas Protected Natural Area
- Punta Marqués Protected Natural Area
- Costa Norte de Santa Cruz Nature Reserve
- Monte Loayza Provincial Natural Park
- Isla Pingüino Interjurisdictional Marine Park
- Ría Deseado Provincial Nature Reserve
- Makenke Interjurisdictional Marine Park
- Yaganes Marine Protected Area
- Namuncurá – Banco Burdwood I Marine Protected Area
- Namuncurá – Banco Burdwood II Marine Protected Area
REFERENCES:
- Cárdenas-Alayza, S., Crespo, E. & Oliveira, L. 2016. Otaria byronia. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T41665A61948292. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41665A61948292.en
- Romero, M. A.; Grandi, M. F.; Túnez, J. I.; Gribaudo, C. A.; Reyes, L. M.; Dassis, M.; Paso Viola, N.; Negrete, J. (2019). Otaria flavescens. En: SAyDS–SAREM (eds.) Categorización 2019 de los mamíferos de Argentina según su riesgo de extinción. Lista Roja de los mamíferos de Argentina.
- Petracci, P., Martín, S., Massola, V., Carrizo, M., Scorolli, A., Zalba, S., Valdemar, D. (2010). Actualización sobre el estado del apostadero de lobo marino de un pelo sudamericano (Otaria flavescens) en la Isla Trinidad, estuario de Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Mastozoología Neotropical 17, 175-182.
- Schiavini, A.C.M., Crespo, E.A., Szapkievich, V. (2004). Status of the population of South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens Shaw, 1800) in southern Argentina. Mammalian Biology 69, 108–118.
- Dans, S., Crespo, E., Pedraza, S., Koen-Alonso, M. (2011). Recovery of the South American sea lion population in northern Patagonia. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 61, 1681–1690.
- Reyes, L.M., Crespo, E.A., Szapkievich, V. (1999). Distribution and Population Size of the Southern Sea Lion (Otaria flavescens) in Central and Southern Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina. Marine Mammal Science 15, 478–493.
- Grandi, M.F., Dans, S.L., Crespo, E.A. (2015). The recovery process of a population is not always the same: The case of Otaria flavescens. Marine Biology Research 11, 225–235.
- Carrara, I.S. (1952). Lobos marinos, pingüinos y guaneras de las costas del litoral marítimo e Islas adyacentes de la República Argentina. Universidad de La Plata, La Plata.
- Milano, V.N., Grandi, M.F., Schiavini, A.C.M., Crespo, Enrique.A. (2020). Sea lions (Otaria flavescens) from the end of the world: insights of a recovery. Polar Biology 43, 695–706.
- Petracci, P., Magnanelli, M., Carrizo, M., Sarria, R., Sotelo, M., Delhey, V., Belenguer, F., Marbán, L. (2020). Censos aéreos de la colonia de lobo marino de un pelo sudamericano (Otaria flavescens Shaw, 1800) de Banco Culebra, Isla de los Riachos, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Historia Natural 10, 95–106.
- Giardino, G., Bastida, J., Mandiola, M.A., Bastida, R., Rodríguez, D. (2017). Estimated population size of two South American sea lion male haulouts from the northern coast of Argentina. Mammalia 81, 197–202.
- Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea, 2019. Report of the IUCN Regional Red List First Workshop for Species of the Patagonian Sea – 2016: Marine Mammals. V. Falabella & C. Campagna (Eds). http://marpatagonico.org/publicaciones/
- DNC/APN (Dirección Nacional de Conservación/Administración de Parques Nacionales) (2017). Sistema Nacional de Áreas Marinas Protegidas (Ley Nº 27.037): Justificación técnica para la creación de seis áreas Marinas Protegidas. Documento Técnico de la Dirección Nacional de Conservación (APN/MAyDS), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. 52 pp.
- Crespo, E. A., de Oliveira, L. R., & Sepúlveda, M. (2021). South American Sea Lion (Otaria flavescens, Shaw 1800) in Heckel, G. y Schramm, Y., (eds.), Ecology and conservation of pinnipeds in Latin America, Springer Nature Switzerland 233, 93-118.
- WCS Argentina Database – Marine Program