Mammals & Fish
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 Harbor Seal  (Phoca vitulina)  
 Harbor Seal Description: Grayish spotted short-haired pelt. They have a small doglike head and face with large brown eyes. Small foreflippers, and non-rotating hind flippers. Lack external ears. Sexes similar in size and appearance. A year-round resident often seen floating with head out of water, or hauled out onto a beach warming in the sun. During summer and fall pups are sometimes left by mother on local beaches while she hunts. Length to 6 feet.  
 Food: Eats a wide variety of bottom fish, herring, and perch. Also eats squid and octopus.  
 Reproduction: Females give birth to a single pup on land in the summer, which is also mating season.  
 Fun Facts: Harbor Seals can dive to 300 feet, and stay underwater for 20 minutes!  

 

California Sea Lion

 

(Zalophus californianus)

  
 California Sea Lions Description: Dark brown pelt. Face dog-like with pointed muzzle. Male forehead has noticeable bump. Small external ears visible. Large foreflippers, and rotatable hind flippers. Can be seen, and heard, on beaches, breakwaters and buoys in Puget Sound. Females to 5.5 feet and 250 pounds; Males grow to 8 feet and can reach 900 pounds, but average 200 to 400 pounds.  
 Food: Feeds on schooling fish, including hake, herring, pollock, squid, salmon and steelhead trout.  
 Reproduction: Breeds only off the Mexican and Californian coast from May to June.  
 Fun Facts: Can stay submerged for 20 minutes.  

 

Orca (Killer whale)

 

(Orcinus orca)

  
 Orca Description: Largest member of the dolphin family. Mostly black, with white patches behind eye, under jaw and under tail. Large paddle-shaped flippers. Males have a tall dorsal fin. Jaws full of conical teeth. Uses echo-location for navigation. Large vocal repertory. Family groups known as pods. Can travel up to 100 miles per day. Females to 23 feet and 8 tons; Males to 30 feet and 11 tons.  
 Food: Feeds on salmon, rockfish, cods and squid.  
 Reproduction: Males reach sexual maturity in late teens. Females can give birth every 3 years or so starting in mid-teens.  
 Fun Facts: Males can live for 50 years, and females can live to 80 years! Found in all the world's oceans.  

 

River Otter

 

(Lutra canadensis)

  
 River Otter Description: Brown sleek fur, webbed feet, and long tail. Active and playful, this weasel relative is common along the local shoreline and marsh. Unlike the Sea Otter, this otter never floats on its back. Common vocalization is a shrill whistle. Grows to over 4 feet, and 30 pounds.  
 Food: Hunts crabs, fishes, shrimps, and small birds.  
 Reproduction: The young live in the nest for 10 to 12 weeks before venturing out into the world accompanied by their mother.  
 Fun Facts: Fur among the densest of any mammal on earth.  

 

Tidepool Sculpin

 

(Oligocottus maculosus)

  
 Tidepool Sculpin Description: Found in tidepools. Variable colors; usually green punctuated by five irregular dark saddle-like markings across back. Large eyes. Shaped like a tadpole at first glance. Tolerant of wide variation in water temperatures, salinity and oxygen content. Can even survive out of water for short periods. Length to 4 inches.  
 Food: Eats small crustaceans, and detritus.  
 Reproduction: Female lays eggs.  
 Fun Facts: This fish can often "smell" its way back to its home tidepool if displaced!  

 

Penpoint Gunnel

 

(Apodichthys flavidus)

  
 Penpoint Gunnel Description: Color varies with habitat and diet. Mostly bright green, sometimes red, yellow, or brown. Found under rocks and in eelgrass bed on intertidal beaches. Has a sharp spine at base of anal fin - the "penpoint." Length to 18 inches.  
 Food: Eats tiny invertebrates, and other small creatures.  
 Reproduction: Spawns in winter at lowest levels of intertidal beaches. Male wraps around eggs.  
 Fun Facts: Not a true eel.  

 

Pacific Sand Lance

 

(Ammodytes hexapterus)

  
 Pacific Sand Lance Description: Slender long body with long sharp lower jaw. Color iridescent green or gray above, silvery below. Swims in large schools over clean sand. May rest on the sand bottom when tired. Burrows into the sand at night, or when disturbed. Eaten by salmon and other large fish. Length to 8 inches.  
 Food: Eats a variety of small organisms, especially crustaceans and planktonic fish larvae.  
 Reproduction: Female lays eggs.  
 Fun Facts: This fish lacks a swim bladder, so it must constantly swim to maintain its position.