Some 1,100 to 1,200 sea lions have been counted flopping on and around the docks at San Francisco's Pier 39 in recent days — the highest number recorded in 15 years.

Pier 39 hasn't seen this many sea lions since the early 1990s. The sea lions are feasting on fish before heading south to mate.

It's a popular rest stop for sea lions, but the docks at the tourist hot spot these days are unusually packed out with the slippery residents. Conservationists are buoyed by the surge in visitors.

There's a sea lion population boom underway at San Francisco's Pier 39, and folks were being invited to check it out.

San Francisco’s famed Fisherman’s Wharf district is seeing a surge in sea lions. First appearing at Pier 39 after the 1989 earthquake, the sea lions have become a well known tourist attraction. The number of sea lions — marine mammals that make loud barking calls and can weight up to a half-ton — crashing at the pier fluctuates over the seasons.

Visitors are swarming to see over 1,000 barking, blubbery sea lions bask at San Francisco’s famous Pier 39. The sudden increase in the K-dock population over the past week is likely due to an influx of nearby anchovies coming from the Farallon Islands,

San Francisco's famed Fisherman's Wharf district is seeing a surge in sea lions. They're lounging, biting each other and generally making a ruckus in numbers not seen in more than a decade. First appearing at Pier 39 after the 1989 earthquake,

More than one thousand of the animals visited a city pier - the region's biggest spike in 15 years.