Eumetopias

Eumetopias is a monotypic genus of eared seal, family Otariidae, containing the single species Eumetopias jubatus, the Steller sea lion, found across the coastal waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean from north-central California through Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska, and west across the Aleutian Islands to Kamchatka and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest of the eared seals, exceeded among pinnipeds only by the walrus and the two elephant seal species, and is named for the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described it in 1741. The species is classified as near threatened, following significant, largely unexplained population declines across much of its northern range, especially in Alaska.