Guadalupe fur seal  (Arctocephalus townsendi)

The Guadalupe fur seal used to have a much wider distribution, but for most of the 20th century breeding was restricted to only one island; Isla de Guadalupe, off the coast of Baja California, Mexico (4). In 1997 a group of Guadalupe fur seals was observed in Islas San Benito, 165 miles south west of Isla Guadalupe (6). In 2006 and 2007 the first pups were seen in San Benito, and the species has spread out all around the San Benito Archipelago. Non-breeding seals range as far north as the Farallon Islands and Sonoma County, California, and south into the Gulf of California (5).

When ashore, Guadalupe fur seals live and breed in rocky habitats, such as volcanic caves and grottos (2).