Tag Archives: sea lion

Marine mammals and vessels

Posted on by

Stellar and California sea lions near sunset

The sea lions have moved in! Last night more than a dozen spent their first night on the main rock. Around sunset there were over 20 on rocks across from the jetty and in close waters. About 50-75 are still camped out on North and West Race Rocks.

I’m unsure if it is a coincidence, but the sea lions’ arrival was directly after the elephant seals’ departure. Although there are still 3 juveniles on site, our 2 alpha males and half dozen other seals haven’t returned since Saturday, 4 August.

Two of the 3 elephant seals left on the island

On another note, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel was tied up to the Rosedale Reef buoy on the edge of the reserve yesterday for a couple of hours late in the day. It’s the first time I’ve seen the buoy being used since my time out here.

On Sunday 37 whale watching boats entered the reserve as well 3 private boats. It’s a lot of activity for such a small area and I wonder about the effects it has on the wildlife. A new 2-deck whale watching ship of Orca Spirit Adventures has a capacity of 200 passengers. I can’t help but think the noise pollution created by this vessel that advertises its indoor dining area and dance floor does harm to the very animals they are in search of.

Coast Guard vessel at Rosedale Reef Buoy

Animal Census First Sea Otter at Race Rocks

Posted on by
Sea Otter in race ROcks Kelp Beds, photo by Adam Bird

Sea Otter in Race Rocks Kelp Beds, photo by Adam Bird on June 10/2012

Things have been fairly quite lately regarding birds and mammals here, though one of the eco-tour boats reported seeing a Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) in a kelp bed on Monday! The percussive blasts from Rocky Point military testing range scared off most of the Sea Lions last Thursday and only a few have returned in the last couple days. A large pod of orca passed through and near the reserve on Tuesday. Thanks to Suna, Doris and Ishmael for the census.

Elephant Seals: about 10
Steller Sea Lions: 2
California Sea Lions: 2
Harbour Seals: 204
Glaucous-winged Gull: 246
Surfbirds: 18
Pigeon Guillemots: 108
Canada Goose: 13
Bald Eagle: 3
Black Oystercatcher: 12
Northwestern Crow: 1
Raven: 1
Sparrow: 4
Sea Otter: 1
Caspian Terns: 6
Herring Gulls: 20

Explosions Don’t Belong Here

Posted on by

I am rather annoyed to put it mildly. The military base at Rocky Point, an ordinance training facility is responsible today for about 10 of the loudest explosions I have heard since being here. The windows shook, and I could feel the percussion in my chest. As a result all the sea lions appear to have left the reserve, and half the juvenile elephant seals made for the water. The military has a huge piece of land so why do they have to practice on the beach of the incredibly beautiful Bentinck Island directly across from the reserve? If they need to practice why can’t they do it inland where the noise and pollution can be contained? Who are they accountable to? Besides the disruption it causes to animal life, it also means there are no animals for the tour operators to share with their clients. In other words we all lose.

Project Week-part 3 (final)

Posted on by

Yesterday was the last day of project week, in the morning I brought students back to campus in two trips on the whaler.  It has been great group to have out here for the past week, they have helped out with several projects and tasks, endured some stormy weather, survived without a shower, cooked their own food (and shared a few good meals with me), and experienced the isolation and richness of the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.  During their stay they were very conscious of the time and resources required for importing fuel and generating energy and fresh water and did a great job minimizing consumption and waste.

In the final days of the week students helped out with transferring diesel to the furnace tanks and cleaning cupboards in the science centre kitchen.  Throughout the week the group maintained a daily count of animals in the reserve, the count is included below.

 

Feb 27 Feb 28 Feb 29 Mar 1 Mar 2 Mar 3
Harbor seals 45 50 10 22 20 16
Elephant seals 2 2 2 2 2 2
Sea lions 2 5 5 5 6 6
Gulls 57 23 33 43 31 26
Cormorants 60 27 29 40 56 32
Oyster Catchers 3 5 3 6 7
Bald Eagles 1 1 1
Brown Sandpiper 4 12 8 6
White Sandpiper 5 3 4
Pigeon Guillemots 22 150
Common Mergansers 2
Harlequin Ducks 12 7 6

Thanks to the group for their contributions and good company.

 

Sea lion juvenile

Posted on by

As Ecological Reserve Warden,  I was concerned with the report of continued blasting by the DND given the recent noting of a nursing northern sea lion at Race Rocks. The following is an account of the concern, starting with an e-mail and pictures from the Ecoguardian, Ryan Murphy

Subject “New Development”
Sept 27,2011

“I’m not sure if the LGL guys noticed this or not… but we have a nursing Steller sea lion pup on Great Race.  You’ll see in the photos that the mother is definitely lactating and the pup is nursing on the rock above the jetty (West side).  Since Eumetopias jubatus is listed under SARA as Special Concern, I believe this is very significant.  DND’s activity at Bentinck Island has not included intervals between blasts to reduce sea lion stampedes, and this pup is definitely at risk of trampling if DND continues their activities as they have for the past 2 days.-
Subject: continued blasting
Date:   September 28, 2011 8:30:18 AM PDT

“No need to worry about DND blasting, the landing of LGL personnel and subsequent standing around at the jetty caused a mass stampede with about 50 animals taking to the water including the pup.”

Subject Update
Date:   September 28, 2011 9:26:18 AM PDT
“Just so you know, the larger blasts are still coming back to back.  I don’t know if LGL communicated the need for increased intervals, but regardless there is no change.  The sea lions continued to be disturbed and take to the water with the rapid succession blasts.”

Subject: update
Date:   September 28, 2011 4:57:03 PM PDT
“The pup has been back since at least 14:30.  I have not seen its mother and it is sporting a fresh 2″ cut on its shoulder.  Otherwise looks to be ok, it has been sitting upright trying to stay awake and nodding off as babies will.”
Subject:    Re: New development
Date:   September 29, 2011 7:04:02 AM PDT

“The pup is still here this morning, the mother is not with it.”

Subject: DND report
Date:   September 29, 2011 9:21:24 AM PDT

“As per the log at 9:21 this morning:
Two absolutely massive explosions that shook the house occurred only 10 seconds apart.  The glass panes in the windows rattled against their metallic frames.  At least 70 sea lions stampeded into the water, completely clearing out entire haul out areas.  About 20 sea lions stampeded through the area where the Steller pup was resting.”

As a result of this account of events, I sent an e-mail to BC Parks and DND administration stating the following:

From: Garry Fletcher
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 10:20 AM
Subject: Fwd: New development

I was very concerned to receive the following  reports and images  from Ryan Murphy our Guardian at  Race Rocks. I think it warrants a followup considering the concerns we have for marine mammals being disturbed by human activities, especially those which are SARA listed.
Surely they have enough data by now to show that the window for doing this blasting program might perhaps be reconsidered.  We would appreciate hearing of any followup .

FOLLOWUP:  So far ( November, 2011) there has been none. The juvenile and mother were not seen again, research by LGL  (LGL who are referred to are the DND contracted research group who is at the island again this year to make observations on the effects of detonations at Bentinck Island.) The disturbance to animals by DND blasting continued unabated over the next few days.  Their previous reports up to 2010 are included here. The report for this year will be added here when it is available.

Sealion census Nov 5-21, 2010

Posted on by

‘2010-11-05’, ‘California Sea Lion’, 10, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’09:09:12 ,
‘2010-11-05’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 50, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’09:08:57 ,
‘2010-11-06’, ‘California Sea Lion’, 5, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’09:08:51 ,
‘2010-11-06’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 25, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’09:09:04 ,
‘2010-11-07’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 50, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’08:16:52 ,
‘2010-11-08’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 40, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’23:01:37 ,
‘2010-11-09’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 15, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’11:10:20 ,’2010-11-10′, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 40, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’11:14:33 ,
‘2010-11-11’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 25, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’22:57:33 ,
‘2010-11-15’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 25, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’09:33:49 ,
‘2010-11-16’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 25, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’11:50:20 , ‘2010-11-17’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 35, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’19:04:31 ,
‘2010-11-19’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 20, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’18:56:05 ,
‘2010-11-18’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 40, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’18:56:36 ,
‘2010-11-20’, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 35, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’18:59:58 ,’2010-11-21′, ‘Northern Sea Lion’, 35, ”, ‘VirginieLP’, ’20:25:30 ,

Slow death thanks to a Fisher’s discarded fish net-binding hoop.

Posted on by

Ryan has more images of injury on his Flickr site:

rmslowdeath2010See this link to the log pages with injured marine mammals.

Ryan titled this one Slow death.
Something could be done about these entanglement injuries. DFO just has to have the determination to counter the Commercial Fishing lobby and insit on regulations to ban the disposal of fishing gear at sea or make biodegradable releases on these fish net hoops.

 

Wounded shoulder on Northern Sea lion

Posted on by

rmshoulderjan2010Injuries on the sea lions: Ryan recorded them with images on his Flickr site: A pretty nasty looking bite wound on this adult male. My first thought was it could have been an orca or shark, but looking at other images of similar bite wounds makes me think this was from another sea lion.

See this link to the log pages with injured marine mammals.

Entangled sea lion

Posted on by

See other images of injuries on Ryan’s  Flickr site:

See this link to the log pages with injured marine mammals.

rmropedec132009A Steller sea lion entangled in rope was spotted at Race Rocks today (12/13/09). The rope appears to be snagged in the rocks and the animal may be tethered to the island. Tomorrow DND will be blasting about 1 mile north of here, an event that usually causes all sea lions hauled out to stampede into the water. If this animal is stuck on land, an attempt may be made to disentangle it.

See the account of its release at https://racerocks.ca/racerock/admin/intervention/2009entangle.htm

Further comments from resident marine scientist and ecoguardian at Race Rocks Ryan Murphy
: December 21 2009

Ryan was interviewed for this article in the Goldstream Gazette: Daring Sealion Rescue at Race Rocks

“Normally, neither DFO or the Vancouver Aquarium will intervene with entangled pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), but this case was special for a number of reasons.
1.  The sea lion was actually tethered to the rocks.  These animals are really tough and can often survive for years with their entanglements.  If tranquilized, these animals would take to the water and most likely drown before a rescue team could get to it.  This wasn’t the case here and so a rescue operation was a viable option.
2.  Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) like this one are listed as a species of special concern under SARA and as such are afforded a higher priority than other more abundant species like harbour seals and california sea lions.
3.  This animal was most likely spotted within 24 hours of its entanglement and was still in relatively good health.  Mike Demarchi of LGL who was on the island monitoring DND activity on nearby Bentinck Island and Rocky Point first spotted it on the morning of the 13th and his team and I were able to keep a very close eye on it during the daylight hours.  It was reported to DFO’s Observe, Record, Report (ORR) line (1-800-465-4336) and the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Centre (at 604-258-SEAL (7325) or via the emergency phone at 604-862-1647).  A case like this on an offshore haul out would most likely have resulted in death by starvation, hypothermia, or drowning long before it was sighted.  In the 3 days between the first sighting (first photograph) and its successful rescue, this animal had further tangled its tether from about 10m to 3m and exacerbated the wound to its flipper.  The gale yesterday would have drowned it had it not been rescued.”