CA Earthquakes and Sea Lions

Dick and I were talking this morning about all of the recent earthquakes in Northern California this week. There were 3 (I believe) about 3.5 magnitude (or higher) earthquakes centered around Milpitas between Wednesday evening and Friday afternoon. Then, there was the big 6.5 earthquake that hit Humboldt County yesterday late afternoon.

Then, there's the Sea Lions. Hundreds of sea lions used to live on the docks around Pier 39. They all just kind of showed up around 1990, and have hung around ever since, becoming quite a popular tourist attraction.

However, most of them left very suddenly at the end of November. Scientists were baffled as to the reason of their sudden departure.

I figured the sea lions must have known something we didn't.

Well, it turns out that the sea lions appear to have all moved up to the Oregon Coast. Apparently, this summer's El Niño event along the California coast pushed up lots of food, including herring, anchovies, smelt and squid.

I mentioned that to Dick this morning, and he asked how the sea lions figured it out.

"Did they text message each other?"

Pier 39 Sea Lion: "FML. This place is full of gay people and tourists."

Oregon Coast Sea Lion: Come on up! Lots of anchovies here! FTW!

:)

I'm still not convinced the move was all about the food. I still say the sea lions were on to something that we haven't figured out yet...