Tag Archives: injury

15 Elephant Seals

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West Rock, 10 elephant seals Dec 8.

 

Male elephant seal younger than Misery with deep scars and a female elephant seal on main island Dec 8

On Dec 8 I counted 15 elephant seals in the reserve: 3 female and 2 male elephant seals hauled out on Great Race as well as 10  female elephant seals on West Rock.  I think this is the most i have ever counter here.

mouth or throat injury

Unfortunately one of the females on Great Race is injured in her mouth or throat and has been bleeding quite a lot.  We have notified the Department of Fisheries and Oceans about her.  There was an elephant seal in the spring that had a mouth injury as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second male elephant seal is brave  to venture onto great race while Misery, Alpha male, is about.  This same elephant seal was here earlier this year, Mike posted about “chunk” at the end of May: https://www.racerocks.ca/2012/05/31/end-of-may/

And i think that it is the same one that had been around earlier that we were calling “Zeke”. I reported him injured here by Misery in February: https://www.racerocks.ca/2012/02/09/zeke-is-wounded/

The scars look similar, including a scar to his right eyelid.  Misery does not seem to be very bothered by the other male being on the main island.  The younger male has kept his distance though.

There has been a Peregrine hunting in the reserve the past three days, this picture taken Dec 8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One tagged Pelican Dec 8 but not able to make out the ID #.

A Blind Sea Lion!

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I have enormous respect for pinnipeds. They are intelligent, resourceful and social animals and they are incredibly hardy. In my time here I have seen all manner of wounds and entanglements, but I never imagined a sea lion could survive in the wild while being totally blind. I first noticed this individual because it has a particularly reddish pelage, and it’s mannerisms appeared a bit different. I took a few pictures, but it was only when the other sea lions saw me and scattered that I noticed how different this fellow is.

This small Steller Sea Lion is completely blind.

Sea Lions appear to recognize injuries and fitness levels in one another. Absent in the interactions with compromised individuals are the threat displays and ritualized aggression of the bulls, replaced with what appears to be a kind of curiosity and concern (these may not be appropriate scientific terms). That said, since sea lions (and all higher order animals) have emotions, and as altruism has been observed in many many species, I don’t think it unreasonable to conclude that the words “curiosity and concern” aren’t too far off the mark.

A Unique Sea Lion


Whatever the case let us keep our fingers crossed for the well-being of this amazing and resourceful individual that has managed to survive in spite of extraordinary odds against it!

The Sad Reality

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Sea Lions are tough and resilient animals. They can deal with sharp rocks and pounding waves but like many animals they have difficulties with human plastic products. Sometimes they will swallow salmon that are already hooked, or get snagged by a jigging hook, or they get entangled in strapping bands or nets. The consequences are usually disastrous.

This Steller is dealing with his entanglement but I hope he doesn’t grow too much bigger…

Education is a very important piece in preventing marine debris from getting into the ocean in the first place.It is often a difficult decision when to intervene because of the real possibility of an animal drowning when darting, and often the debris does break off on its own over time (ie many animals with scars from previous entanglements).

This is a recent snag. The animal is still healthy.

Please do what you can to ensure that plastics don’t escape into nature and that if you fish, do it far from marine mammals. The ocean is their home first.

 

 

 

 

 

This poor fellow has suffered for a while now.

Even a small hook can handicap a pinniped. This guy doesn’t put weight on the flipper and crawls around on his face. Likely this hook will tear out eventually.

End of May

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Hold the presses! I just got back from the top of the tower where I was washing the windows. My eyes were drawn to a huge lump on Middle Rocks. With the binoculars I could see what appears to be 3 bull elephant seals, a few cows and a juvenile. That makes at least 14 elephant seals in the reserve! I wonder if it is Misery?

It is hard to tell that June begins tomorrow, due to the fog and damp. But there are certainly signs of summer beginning to show up in spite of the weather. The first Glaucous-winged Gull eggs are being laid, the Oystercatchers are getting more secretive

 

But the really BIG news is that a new-to-me bull elephant seals arrived yesterday. He isn’t as big as Misery but he is bigger than Zeke. I would guess he is a few years away from becoming a Beachmaster. He caused quite a commotion rampaging around and roughing up a few females before he found a nice spot to sleep for the next few days. I have named him Chunk, for both his size and the large scars down his back, which appear to be caused by a boat propellor a few years ago. (Ed note: These were actually caused by a fight with Misery last year. ) The scars look fairly well healed but some pretty big chunks were carved out by the prop.

 

Busy Times

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A lot is going on in and around the reserve. I spotted 6 Caspian Terns in area over the last week. Twice orca have gone past, though at the northern boundary, well-observed by tourists on the excursion vessels that are now very frequent visitors. There is a River Otter now living under walkway in front. 

This morning 9 Elephant Seals were present, a new record! At least to me… They include Numbers 6355, 6360, 6397, 5086, Bertha, Noah – young male 3-4 yo est.), 2 untagged 2-3 yo juveniles, AND, happily the sad seal with the infected mouth that suffered for weeks on the end of the pier returned, and she is looking great! I had observed that after one of the sharp pieces of jaw bone that was protruding from her lower palate fell out she quickly returned to the water to find sustenance; she was very skinny and weak at the time.  Although her mouth is still repairing and healing itself it is clear she was able to feed well and she must have gained 40 kgs in fat in 5 weeks. I am astounded and impressed with the recuperative powers of these magnificent creatures.

 


Moulting Time

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There are about 8-10 young and mostly moulting elephant seals in the reserve at this time. Between four and six have been lounging on the pier creating obstacles for the group of 10  students that spent the weekend here. The grumpy infected girl at the end of the dock made all of us clamber around the outside of the rail to get to and from the boat. Today I thought she looked a bit better. There appears to be an object imbedded in her lower palate; perhaps a barb or spine from a fish she was hunting. I hope it works it’s way out in time. Presumably elephant seals are pretty durable creatures… we will keep a close eye on her recuperation.

The students did a great job of weeding the scotch thistles from around the tower.

There are plenty of Pigeon Guillemots and Black Oystercatcher pairs on the island, with a few Harlequin ducks and Rhinoceros Auklets just offshore. The Harbour Seals should start giving birth soon. There is a large pregnant female on the foreshore near the engine room.

3 rental boats entered the reserve and broke all the rules for respectable human decorum here. I called the marina and they quickly responded by phoning the renters to warn them of their infractions. I was happy to see them promptly exit the reserve and head off towards the military ballistics range.

Home for Some

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It is good to be back after two months of travel out in the world. Alex did a great job on the ongoing projects the station demands. Cheers buddy!
Squall is now 3 months old and in spite of all the doubters who thought she wouldn’t make it, she is doing awesome. She is sleek, fat, curious and spunky.

There is a yearling female on the jetty as well but she is going through an uncomfortable moult and she has an infection in her mouth that is bleeding and oozing. I hope she heals up in a hurry….

There are about 200 glaucous-winged gulls competing for nesting sites. They hang out all day but they all leave at dusk to sleep somewhere a bit safer I guess…

Zeke(Chunk) is Wounded

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This morning Zeke and Misery were both back on Great Race.  At some point in the night they must have come in contact and Zeke took a beating.

Ed Note : We now thinks Zeke and Chunk are the same male individuals. Scar patterns match.

There are multiple puncture wounds on his back and the one large open gash looks about 8″ long.  His right eyelid is also slightly to torn.

 

 

 

Misery chased Zeke again today over onto the rocks to the edge of the cliff.  This time Misery followed him onto the rocks but Zeke managed to make his way down the steep rocks on the West side and into the water.  He is currently hauled out on Middle Rock out of harms way for now.