Sea Lions Gather on California Beach, People Should Let Them Rest

Hundreds of California sea lions have taken over San Carlos Beach in Monterey, California, causing officials to close the area to people.

数百只加州海狮占领了加利福尼亚州蒙特雷的圣卡洛斯海滩，导致官员关闭了该地区，禁止人们进入。

Drawn to the animals, people still gather to take photos as they rest and play on the sand and in the water.

尽管如此，人们仍然被这些动物吸引，聚集在一起拍照，看它们在沙滩上和水中休息玩耍。

While sea lions, or eared seals, are often seen at certain beaches up and down the California coast, locals say they have never seen so many of them in Monterey.

尽管在加州海岸的某些海滩上经常能看到海狮或耳海豹，但当地人表示，他们从未在蒙特雷见过如此多的海狮。

Lisa Uttal is a marine biologist with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. She said it was unclear exactly why the sea lions chose San Carlos Beach, but they may be attracted to the food supply in nearby waters.

丽莎·乌塔尔是蒙特雷湾国家海洋保护区的一名海洋生物学家。她表示，目前尚不清楚海狮为什么选择圣卡洛斯海滩，但它们可能是被附近水域的食物供应吸引的。

Almost all the seals gathered on the beach were male, she said.

她说，聚集在海滩上的几乎所有海狮都是雄性。

Uttal explained that the seals move to the northern coast from Ventura and the Channel Islands. “They are incredibly mobile. They're usually chasing the food.”

乌塔尔解释说，这些海狮是从文图拉和海峡群岛迁移到北部海岸的。“它们的活动性非常强，通常是追着食物走的。”

She noted that the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has many different kinds of sea life. Uttal expects the sea lions to remain on San Carlos Beach for three to four weeks.

她指出，蒙特雷湾国家海洋保护区有许多不同种类的海洋生物。乌塔尔预计这些海狮会在圣卡洛斯海滩停留三到四周。

Marge Brigadier is a volunteer with Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Bay Net program. She said people should not get too close to the sea lions or try to make them move away.

玛吉·布里加迪尔是蒙特雷湾国家海洋保护区湾网项目的志愿者。她表示，人们不应靠近海狮或试图让它们离开。

The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 is the law that prevents people from harming them.

1972年美国《海洋哺乳动物保护法》是一项防止人类伤害这些动物的法律。

"People just need to think about how they would feel if they were resting on their bed taking a nap and something big kept coming and chasing them out of the house," Brigadier said.

“人们只需要想象一下，如果他们在床上小憩时，有什么大东西不断来追赶他们，把他们赶出房子，他们会有什么感受，”布里加迪尔说。