Even the sea lions are fleeing California

It's not clear what part of the California budget crisis prompted the action - higher taxes or spending cuts that have curtailed state services - but, apparently, even San Francisco sea lions have seen fit to flee the state, recently spotted in Oregon according to this report.

Missing Pier 39 Sea Lions Are Found in Oregon
Posted by Alex in Animal on January 4, 2010 at 1:19 am

Remember the case of the "missing" sea lions of San Francisco’s Pier 39? Well, they have been "found":

Marine experts now believe that the Pier 39 sea lions have gone to Oregon. A couple thousand California sea lions showed up off the coast of Oregon with their typical bark that separates them from the growling Stellar sea lions that usually live in Oregon.

Dan Harkins is the Sea Lion Caves general manager. He says: "We’re seeing the sea lions coming up this way from California because of the feeding. If the cold water fish move north to find colder waters, the sea lions have to eat and they follow the fish wherever they go.”

Link (Photo: Swift Benjamin [Flickr])

Then again, maybe it's like the manager of Sea Lion Caves says - the move north has nothing to do with Sacramento, they're just following the fish.