Nature of Russia. Far East. Sea of Okhotsk. Fur seal. Sea lions.

Every year biologists and specialists in marine mammals go on a difficult expedition. One of the main tasks of researchers is to find out what is happening with the population of the northern sea lion, or sea lion.
The sea lion is endemic to the North Pacific. They are found near the small islands of the Sea of Okhotsk, on Sakhalin, the Commander, Kuril and Aleutian Islands, off the coast of Kamchatka and Alaska.
The main rookeries, where the Russian part of the sea lion population produces offspring, are scattered over the islands of the Sea of Okhotsk. A research vessel would have to travel thousands of miles to reach them.
Until recently, the northern sea lion was considered a widespread species. Its population in the middle of the 20th century reached 350 thousand heads. But now, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the number of animals has begun to decline sharply.