Tag Archives: entangled sea lions

August 22 – More Flashers

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Wind: W 9-12 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: clear
Temperature: 13-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.45 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

It rained heavily overnight, giving the windows and pathways a much needed cleaning of the built up bird poop. I have been able to collect run off water from the downspouts on the main house and energy building, which can be used in the pressure washer to clean paths and exterior walls.

This morning, two steller sea lions were spotted with flashers hooked to the left sides of their mouths. One appears to be the sea lion spotted over the past few days. The other has an identical flasher. The Marine Mammal Rescue Centre has been updated, as this makes three different stellers with flashers hooked to their mouths in a week and a half.

Here are a few photos from today:

Annual Christmas Bird Count

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Wind: Yesterday 5-10 knots W; Today 5-20 knots NE
Sea State: up to 1 m chop
Visibility: 10 NM
Sky: overcast with rain this afternoon
Temperature: 7 C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

December 28 is the annual Christmas Bird Count, which happens in thousands of locations across North America. It has been happening for twenty-two years at Race Rocks. This morning with the northeast wind and dropping pressure, the planned visit by the local bird enthusiasts was called off. But fear not, citizen science provailed. For an hour and half this morning, I searched for birds of all feathers as I walked around the island and looked out from the top of the lighthouse. I used binoculars, a spotting scope and the zoom lens on the camera to check out the shoreline, water and the rocky islets of the ecological reserve. I was able to spot 12 species of birds, some of which were not present when I did the weekly census two days ago. Here are the results and photos of the bird count:

25 bald eagles (5 juvenile, 20 adults)
1 fox sparrow
4 canada geese
2 ravens
6 harlequin ducks
208 double-crested cormorants
59 pelagic cormorants
281 thayer’s gulls (on the rocks and in the water)
48 mew gulls (near Turbine Rock and North Rocks)
18 surfbirds
42 black turnstones
4 black oystercatchers

Photos of some of the birds seen today:

In the past two days, I have seen two entangled sea lions. Yesterday morning, I noticed a large steller sea lion with a small rope around its neck. The rope appeared to be cutting into the underside of the animal’s neck. A short while later, I noticed a california sea lion with a cut on its neck from what appears to be a plastic strap wrapped around it. The Marine Mammal Rescue Centre and Department of Fisheries and Oceans have been notified. If the sea lions remain at Race Rocks, it might be possible for a rescue to occur. Both animals were seen again today. See the entangled sea lion and marine mammal rescue tags for past occurrences that were written about in the Log. Two other california sea lions were seen that appear to have healing wounds from something that was previously wrapped around their necks. The animals don’t appear to have tags on their flippers to signify they have been rescued.

The Canadian flag was looking a bit tattered, so I replaced it today.

Just before sunset today, there were four eco tour boats in the reserve. The boats were all close to each other, which usually means something interesting is nearby. Sure enough, a pod of five or six orcas were passing westward. They travelled along the north side of the ecological reserve, just south of Bentinck Island and the Department of National Defence base.

Here are some photos from the past two days:

Marine Mammal Rescue

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On November 4th and 5th the Marine Mammal Rescue Team was here to help out a couple California sea lions that were entangled. They arrive on the 4th and after doing a thorough search around the island there were no tangled sea lions around so we were afraid they may have left the area but thankfully the team stayed the night and the next morning they were able to find two sea lions who needed some help getting the garbage off of their necks. The first animal was on the north east side of island up on the rocks and Marty was able to dart him without him fleeing into the water. His tangle was pretty bad but thankfully the team was able to help him out before it got any worse. I’ve seen him hanging around the same spot since he’s been untangled.

The second one was in a bit of a tougher spot he was already half in the water so he jumped right in as soon as the dart hit him and went for a swim. The dart was very helpful in making him easier to spot as he swam around until he was sedated and the team was able to get a hold of him to help him out.

Overall it was a very successful trip and I am so glad the Marine Mammal Rescue team was able to come out here and help these guys out. I have not seen any new tangles since and I’m keeping an eye out for the two that are on the mend.

 

Steller sea lion with plastic around neck rescued on Vancouver Island

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From The Goldstream Gazette BC LOCAL NEWS

Sep. 22, 2019 12:00 a.m.
PHOTOS: Steller sea lion with plastic around neck rescued on Vancouver Island

Rescue staff determined the plastic band cut the protected animal’s neck approximately two inches

A Steller sea lion is recovering after being disentangled from a piece of plastic that cut its neck approximately two inches.The male sea lion, weighing approximately 500 kilograms, was reported to the Vancouver Aquarium marine mammal rescue centre team after it was seen near Sooke with a plastic packing band wrapped tightly around its neck.Rescue staff, along with officers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and a veterinarian from the SeaDoc Society, joined forces Monday at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve to rescue the animal, which is protected in Canada as a species of special concern under the federal Species at Risk Act.

Rescue staff joined forces with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the SeaDoc Society to disentangle the sea lion at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. (SeaDoc Society photo)

Since Race Rocks is made up of rough terrain and has strong currents, it took hours of jockeying positions for Martin Haulena, the head veterinarian at the aquarium, to dart and sedate the sea lion. Haulena did this from a distance using an air-powered dart containing immobilization agents.

Over the past two decades, Vancouver Aquarium head veterinarian Martin Haulena has helped develop a precise drug combination to ensure that sea lions can be safely freed, without harming itself or others. (SeaDoc Society photo)

The sea lion entered the water after being darted, which Lindsaye Akhurst, manager of the aquarium’s rescue centre said is a common response. Then, with the help of Race Rocks Eco-Guardians in the lighthouse acting as “eyes in the sky,” the team was able to spot the sea lion in some kelp and remove the plastic band that had cut into the animal’s neck approximately 2 inches.

Once the sedated sea lion was located in the water, the rescue team discovered that while the top of the plastic band was still slightly mobile, the bottom, or ventral portion, had cut into the animal’s neck approximately two inches. (SeaDoc Society photo)

A release from Ocean Wise said “the depth and severity of the wound indicated that the plastic had been there for some time.”

In between darting attempts, the Vancouver Aquarium marine mammal rescue team had to pause rescue efforts due to the presence of Southern resident killer whales from J and K pods. (SeaDoc Society photo)

Team members tagged the sea lion’s flippers so if there are further reports about it rescuers will be able to identify the animal.

READ MORE: Entangled humpback calf rescued off west coast of Vancouver Island

To date, rescue centre staff have rescued over 20 entangled sea lions.

B.C. surveys have documented hundreds more entangled sea lions in recent years, the release said, with some of the worst plastic offenders being ghost gear, including nets and ropes, and discarded trash such as the plastic packing bands used in packaging and shipping, which ensnare animals.

Not only are plastic items uncomfortable for marine mammals, Akhurst said, but the sea lions continue to grow while the plastic around them does not, which sometimes results in death.

READ MORE: Brand new vessel for Massett Marine Rescue

Akhurst said Ocean Wise is working with the Fisheries and Oceans Canada on a stronger disentanglement program that specifically targets pinnipeds, a group that includes seals, sea lions, and walruses.

In late fall, a multi-day outing is planned that will focus on this problem on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

READ MORE: Sea lion tangled in rope on Vancouver Island

If you see a marine mammal that you believe is in distress, stay back, keep people and pets away, and call the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre at 604-258-SEAL (7325), or the Fisheries and Oceans Canada hotline at 1-800-465-4336.

karissa.gall@blackpress.ca

Sea Lion Rescued from Plastic Entanglement

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A team comprised of the DFO and Vancouver Aquariums Marine Mammal Rescue (MMR) came out to Race Rocks on September 16th to help the entangled sea lions we’ve spotted over the last few weeks. Leaving from Pedder Bay at 0900, they arrived in two RHIBs at the reserve shortly after. After observing the struggling animals over the last while and communicating information with MMR, they were a welcomed sight.

Right away we spotted three possibly entangled sea lions from the lighthouse (unfortunately none of these three being the animals we photographed previously). We then landed the team of vet techs and veterinarian Marty at the jetty to assess the situation. It was decided that one of the sea lions resting by the water between the guest house and the helicopter pad was our best rescue candidate.

Marty and a videographer from Vancouver Aquarium approached over the helicopter pad from the direction of ‘Camera 5’. They got into position and a shot was taken, but the tranquilizer dart bounced and the sea lion fled into the water.

From the lighthouse we were able to follow its movements and keep the team apprised by radio. There was uncertainty about whether or not it received a partial dose of the tranquilizer as it floated in strange positions/patterns. Moving around Race Rocks to the water beside the solar panel/generator building, it hauled out again and another shot at it was lined up from one of the boats. The angle wasn’t quite right, and it again fled into the ocean and couldn’t be spotted. It was around 1400, and everyone took a break to have some food.

After this, everyone considered calling it off as it was getting late and we couldn’t locate the animal. At the last moment, with both boats ready to head back to Pedder Bay, it was spotted from the lighthouse (resting on the rock mound on the NW point of Great Race Rock)! Tranquilizing was attempted from water, but the dart bounced again and landed in the water and was recovered. Here’s a short video of that:


After that, it ended up too far from the water to try another shot by boat, so in a final effort the one boat landed Marty and the team again while the other stayed on the water to support. With no cover available between him and the animal, Marty had no choice but to crawl about one hundred feet in order to take the shot.

We were able to capture the following footage of the sea lion being darted, going into the water, and then after a tense 20 minutes during which a pod of transient orcas appeared in the reserve (who sometimes eat sea lions), it was found! The team proceeded to cradle the animal between their vessels and remove the plastic band. Then, they injected a reversal drug to reverse the tranquilizer before letting it go.

Everyone was relieved to have successfully helped an animal in need. We have suggested that future disentanglement efforts might have a better chance if extended to overnight stays in the guest house, and perhaps coordinated and executed in a more timely manner in relation to the animal sighting(s). This time we were unable to find the original animals that we had previously spotted, since it took quite a while to organize the rescue attempt. A big thank you to everyone who came to help this sea lion and teach us about their work!

Check out rescue.ocean.org to learn more about the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue program, and Ocean Wise.

Thanks to the rescue team, one more sea lion has a better chance of survival! (vet Marty holding the dart gun and dart used to tranquilize the sea lion)

 

See media coverage: https://www.bclocalnews.com/news/plastic-band-removed-from-neck-of-greater-victoria-sea-lion-2/

Census and so many sea lions

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-10 NW
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Calm

Boats/Visitors

  • Guy, Greg and Travis came by to help finish putting up the fence and also fix a couple things in the house
  • Still a lot of ecotours cruising by each day

Maintenance

  • The fence is up and working better than the old fence for keeping the sea lions out of certain areas
  • the washer is now also working, which is great for me
  • had to run the generator quite a bit today, the batteries have been running low

Ecological

  • About a hundred more sea lions than there were last weak
  • also seems to be more gulls and harbour seals
  • havent see the geese around today
  • also a sea lion with garbage wrapped around its neck, will contact the right people and keep an eye on him

Census

  • California sea lion – 371
  • Stellar sea lion – 184
  • Harbour seal – 77
  • Elephant seal – 1 female , there was another female but she left a couple days ago
  • Cormorants – 30
  • Seagulls – 486
  • Black turnstones – 25
  • Fox sparrows – 12

Coast Guard visitors, entangled sea lion and Sam

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 20-25 knts W
  • Sky: Clear
  • Water: Ripply

Boats/Visitors/Sightings

  • A coast guard helicopter brought technicians this morning to work on the lighthouse electronics
  • Guy, Jeff, Travis and my friend/Pearson alum Sam Unger came to the island later in the afternoon. Travis was getting trained on docking the boat at Race Rocks, while Jeff and Guy came to have a look at the broken laundry machine. Sam came to visit me and he’ll be staying here until Monday.

Marine mammals

  • The last elephant seal left the island yesterday, leaving harbour seals and sea lions as the only mammals on the main island.
  • I received a report from Vancouver Aquarium about an entangled steller in the area. I’ve informed the various whale watching companies, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for it myself.

Human Impact on Sealions: Fishing Flashers, Entanglement, Boat strikes

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In this post we have put together many of our references to the impacts that humans have inflicted on our California and Steller or northern sea lion population which hauls out at Race Rocks.  It includes images of fishing flashers and entanglement in commercial fishing gear, especially plastic net-binding hoops, as well as examples of strikes by boats which have injured sealions, often resulting in limb amputations. It is our hope that the fisher community can be more aware of how harmful their actions or negligence can be on marine mammal populations.  

FISHING FLASHERS:

We see this event all too often at Race Rocks. Fishers must take responsibility for removing fishing gear from the water when marine mammals are nearby. Not only is it expensive to loose equipment, the impact on these sea lions is uncertain. If the animal succeeds in breaking the leader for the flasher, then the animal only has to contend with the hook down in the stomach. It is not known how this effects sea lion mortality.

flash2

Dec. 13 2006

flasher2northern

Feb. 2006

flashernorthern

Feb. 2006

hookedsealion

This Northern sea lion was photographed on August 15, 2007 by Roth Wehrell. UVIc

front

A flasher on one of the sealions at the docks

Entanglement in Commercial Fishing Plastic bindings on Nets.

This section shows plastic neck rings from commercial fishing nets around the neck of a sea lion.
Please write your Fisheries governing departments to request that all plastic bands used in the fishing industry for binding fish nets by made of biodegradable material.

RM4_8493necklace

Neck rings on middle island

Oct26 2015

Oct26 2015

gfsept809threebrand

Sept. 9,2009-
This northern (steller’s) sea lion showed up on Middle Rock in February of 2009 . Note the ridge formed by the ring toward the head end. Photo by Ryan  two neck rings and three brands appear in the same photo from the tower. GF

Aug 31, 2009

Aug 31, 2009

Sept. 2, 2009

Sept. 2, 2009- Ryan Murphy photo

Sept. 1999

Sept. 1999 Carol Slater took this picture of a California beside the docks.

These two tags will bring up the other posts on Marine mammal Injuries and Entanglement.

See other photos from the excellent collection of Ryan Murphy on Flickr

See this reference: Entanglement of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in marine debris: Identifying causes and finding solutions

Kimberly L. Raum-Suryana, , , Lauri A. Jemisonb, Kenneth W. Pitcherc
Elsevier: Volume 58, Issue 10, October 2009, Pages 1487–1495
Abstract
Entanglement in marine debris is a contributing factor in Steller sea lion (SSL; Eumetopias jubatus) injury and mortality. We quantified SSL entanglement by debris type, sex and age class, entanglement incidence, and estimated population level effects. Surveys of SSL haul-outs were conducted from 2000–2007 in Southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia. We recorded 386 individuals of all age classes as being either entangled in marine debris or having ingested fishing gear. Packing bands were the most common neck entangling material (54%), followed by rubber bands (30%), net (7%), rope (7%), and monofilament line (2%). Ingested fishing gear included salmon fishery flashers (lures: 80%), longline gear (12%), hook and line (4%), spinners/spoons (2%), and bait hooks (2%). Entanglement incidence was 0.26% (SD = 0.0064, n = 69 sites). “Lose the Loop!” Simple procedures such as cutting entangling loops of synthetic material and eliminating the use of packing bands can prevent entanglements.

BOAT STRIKES:

As the Northern (Steller) and California sea lions started to return to Race Rocks in the fall of 2009, Ecoguardian Ryan Murphy noticed what may be a significant increase in the number of encounters they have had with humans. Ryan took  these pictures at the time.

Elephant Seal Pup

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Ecological Happenings

  • After last nights’ strong winds, many of the regular Sea Lions on the North East of the island were not there, but returned towards the afternoon.
  • Four Elephant Seals were on the dock (where the California Sea lions usually lay), including one pup. The pup was tagged (B228). It had a hard time getting off the dock to return to its mother (see photographs below)
  • Great Blue Heron, spotted today by Camera 5 on the high coastal rocks
  • One more tangled Sea Lion was spotted in preparation for the Vancouver Aquarium rescue on the 28th of October. The two that were previously sighted, could not be found today.

Marine Vessels

Four tour boats, no fishing/pleasure vessels seen today.

Maintenance

  • Davis weather station was offline – this has been resolved.
  • Troubleshooting the pressure hose, in preparation of some cleaning on the island.

No visitors today

 

Jan 8-10, census

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Wind has been fairly steadily N-NE 10-15 knots for past days with overcast sky and intermittent light rain.

IMG_7952

The “Orca Spirit”, large and loud.

Jan 9: 2 ecotour vessels including the very large Orca Spirit which passed through the reserve twice, I dont usually see this vessel this time of year here.  It is quite a loud boat when it puts its engine(s) in gear.

DSC_9279

Jan 9,leg-banded cormorant, red KJ8

Census, Jan 9: 
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