Sea Lions Announce Their Arrival with Loud ‘Woo, Woo’ on Tiny Hokkaido Island

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:17 JST, February 9, 2024

With their strong cries of “woo, woo,” Steller sea lions announced their arrival at Benten Island, a soccer field-sized uninhabited island about one kilometer northwest of Cape Soya, located in northern Hokkaido.

Steller sea lions breed along the coasts of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands, and migrate to the Sea of Japan side of Hokkaido and the Nemuro Straits around this time every year. They are a nuisance for fishermen, breaking through nets with their huge bodies and devouring fish and octopi with their voracious appetites.