Pier pressure: more than 1,000 sea lions assemble at San Francisco dockside

Tourists delighted as pinnipeds congregate at city’s Pier 39, apparently attracted by feast of anchovies

More than 1,000 sea lions have gathered at San Francisco’s Pier 39 this spring, the largest herd in at least 15 years.

Mounds of floppy, delightfully ungraceful marine mammals have plopped themselves on to rafts along the city’s pier, displaying themselves to the thousands of tourists who pass by the area each day.