California sea lions are popular in marine parks and aquariums, but their welfare in captivity is debated. Wild sea lions also face threats from entanglement, disease, and food shortages.
Sea lion welfare is complex in both captive and wild settings. Captive sea lions may live longer than wild counterparts but often exhibit behavioral indicators of poor welfare including stereotypies and learned helplessness from show training. Wild sea lions face natural mortality from predation and starvation but also human-caused threats including entanglement, gunshot injuries from fishermen, and domoic acid poisoning from harmful algal blooms. The Marine Mammal Center in California rehabilitates thousands of sea lions annually.