Curious why Monterey sea lions moved near wharf

It is a delight to watch the antics of the engaging sea lions along the Rec Trail by Fisherman's Wharf. What's a concern is that their home, for more than half a century that I have witnessed, on the breakwater by the Coast Guard, has been abandoned for their new living location. The breakwater rocks are now only inhabited by birds as the sea lions frolic in the waters around the wharf.

What would cause this sudden change?

I hope that the city of Monterey is doing everything they can to discover why these animals would leave a perfectly good home and if it is something that has changed over at Breakwater Cove, urge them to put it back the way it was so the sea lions can go back to their breakwater home.

This is not a situation where an overflow of population came to shore but one where the entire population has changed its location. We need to understand why this occurred in order to inform any future action.

I hope the Monterey City Council is awake on this.

— Rebecca Lee, Pacific Grove