Tag Archives: Stellar Sea Lions
Sea lion resting
It appears that humans are not the only mammals that drool in their sleep. It may take a few clicks on this photo to have it enlarge but the drool is there. There are several dozen Steller sea lions that spend their summer in our viewing area and most of them are the large older males. There are several small rocky islands in the area of Telegraph Cove that provides a “haul out” for the sea lions. As long as we manage to stay “up wind” they provide a great opportunity for interesting photographs.
Sea lions on whale watching safari
Steller sea lions often “haul out” on the rocks near Stubs Island located not far from Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island. They pass through this area in the spring and fall traveling between California and Alaska. The sea lion numbers are on a decline along the West Coast of North America and a branding identification program has been underway for about fifteen years. “The two sites chosen to mark Steller pups were Pyramid Rock at Rogue Reef, Oregon and Southwest Seal Rock at St. George Reef in northern California. These sites are the largest Steller sea lion rookeries in the lower forty eight states. Steller sea lion pups were branded along the left flank. Sea lions branded at Rogue Reef, Oregon have a letter R following the numbered digit (i.e. 25R). Quote from Patrick J. Gearin
NOAA, AFSC, National marine Mammal Laboratory” Several of these branded sea lions are seen each summer and sightings are reported.
Whale Watching Safari
Harold Bailey from the UK who was with us the first week of September, provided the comment and picture “I feel lucky tonight”. Whale watching safari trips from the lodge include more than humpback whales and orca. The water-ways between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland abound in marine based wildlife: eagles, large variety of ducks and water fowl, white-sided dolphins, dall’s porpoise, harbour porpoise, harbour seals and of course stellar sea lions. A safari trip without viewing a majority of these is not considered a good day.
Whale watching in BC
A whale watching safari from the lodge produces interesting photos. We normally see one or two branded stellar sealions in the area of Telegraph Cove every summer. This brand number was reported to one of the other operators in the area and he reported back (after checking an Internet database) that this one was from Alaska and had not been reported for five years. The Alaskan sealions are in dramatic decline, over 30% in the past few years.
Sealions on BC coast
Most days on your whale watching safari we find stellar sealions. Although most pass through this part of BC’s coast on the way to and from Alaska in the spring and fall some do stay all summer. If we eat our picnic lunch in the area around Vancouver Island’s Telegraph Cove the sea lions often come to check us out so their picture is added to the bucket list.
Sealion porpoise?
The whale safari area around Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island contains many strange and interesting sights. Over the years I have watched many sea lions play with the humpback whales, twice saw cougars on the beach, black bears swimming between islands but this was the first for me, a stellar sealion pretending to be a dolphin. It did about fifteen of these “breeches or porpoises” behind the boat while we were following a pod of white side dolphins on the other side of the boat.
