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Pier 39 — The checkable facts
Quick answer
California sea lions began hauling out on K-Dock at Pier 39 in September 1989 and never left. The Marine Mammal Center advised the marina to give the docks up rather than move them. Numbers swing with the fish and the season, peaking in winter — as many as 1,700 have been counted at once — and thinning in early summer when the males head south to breed.
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Sea lions first began hauling out at Pier 39 in September 1989, before the October Loma Prieta earthquake | Wikipedia — Pier 39 |
| As many as 1,700 have been reported at one time, during Thanksgiving week in 2009 | Wikipedia — Pier 39 |
| The Marine Mammal Center advised leaving the animals and monitors the population | Wikipedia — Pier 39 |
| Pier 39 was developed by Warren Simmons and opened on 4 October 1978 | Wikipedia — Pier 39 |
| Males migrate south to the Channel Islands for the breeding season | NOAA Fisheries — California sea lion |
Frequently asked
Why did the sea lions come to Pier 39?
Nobody knows for certain, and the popular earthquake explanation is backwards: the first animals hauled out in September 1989, weeks before Loma Prieta struck in October. What the docks offer is obvious enough — herring in the bay, a floating platform out of reach of great white sharks, and no competition once the boats left.
Why are the Pier 39 docks sometimes empty?
Because the population moves with the fish and the breeding season. Winter is the peak, when several hundred can pile onto the platforms and as many as 1,700 have been counted at once. In early summer most of the males head south to the Channel Islands, and the docks can look abandoned. Nothing is wrong.
Why are the Pier 39 sea lions so loud?
The barking is territorial argument, not conversation, and the colony is overwhelmingly male. The piling on top of each other is deliberate too: hauled-out sea lions conserve body heat by stacking, which is why a platform can look like one animal with forty heads.
Did the sea lions get moved off Pier 39?
No — the boats did. The marina asked The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito how to remove them, and the answer after study was to leave them alone and give up the docks. The berths were reassigned and K-Dock became theirs, which is why a working marina now has a wildlife viewing area in the middle of it.
What else is worth seeing at Pier 39?
Two things past the shops. The two-storey carousel on the upper level is hand-painted with San Francisco scenes. And the far end of the pier gives one of the best free views in the city: Alcatraz straight ahead, the Golden Gate to the left, the Bay Bridge to the right.
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