Smaller and denser-furred than the sea lion, with a blunter snout and larger eyes, in shaded rocky coves.
Males average 1.5 m and about 64 kg, females 1.25 m and about 27 kg. This is the smallest eared seal in the world. The fur is thick and dark brown and looks black when wet, the muzzle is short and pointed, the eyes are conspicuously large, and the ear flaps stand clearly out from the head.
The Galapagos sea lion is the confusion and divers get it wrong constantly. The fur seal is much smaller, thicker-furred and bigger-eyed, and it hauls out in shade — under lava overhangs, in crevices, on shaded ledges. The sea lion is larger and sleeker with a longer dog-like muzzle and lies in the open on sand and jetties.
It feeds at night, mostly near the surface, with a deepest recorded dive of 169 m. In the water it is much shyer than a sea lion and usually rests at the surface in shaded rock rather than coming to a diver. It is concentrated in the cool upwelling water of the north and west of the archipelago. It is listed as endangered: the population depends on cold water, and the 1982 to 1983 El Niño killed about a third of the adults and nearly every pup. Bulls are territorial and will bite. Park rules require 2 m and no touching.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.