Where to see
Zalophus californianus
Channel Islands National Park leads · 6 parks ranked by real sighting rates
Share of wildlife watchers reporting a California Sea Lion during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)
| # | Park | Country | Sighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cabo Pulmo National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Channel Islands National Park
In Channel Islands National Park, United States, about 60% of wildlife watchers report a California Sea Lion sighting on a given day, the highest of the 6 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.
Cabo Pulmo National Park and more
After Channel Islands National Park, the next-best odds of seeing a California Sea Lion are in Cabo Pulmo National Park (Mexico, about 50%), Redwood National Park (United States, about 50%) and Bahía de Loreto National Park (Mexico, about 50%).
It depends on the park
In the top parks, the best months are May–June and August–September in Channel Islands National Park (about 70%), January in Cabo Pulmo National Park (about 70%) and January and February in Redwood National Park (about 70%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report a California Sea Lion on a given day. Each park's California Sea Lion page has the full month-by-month chart.
