So long, and thanks for all the fish

from Powell River Living February 2019

Pedalling from Powell River to Colombia

**A quiet colony of California sea lions rests at sunset.**
Photo by Robert Colasanto

Oodles of delicious herring and hake drew several hundred California sea lions to the Townsite breakwater for an extended visit in January.

Usually at this time of year, these 300-kilogram pinnipeds migrate 1,700 kilometres to the mouth of the Fraser River. This year, they chose us instead.

And we loved them. If you headed down to First Beach any time of day, you’d see crowds of cell-phone camera-bearing humans locking eyes with menacinglooking gangs of barking sea lions vying for dominance on the rocks. The crowds are mostly gone now, the sea lions having followed the herring over to Comox waters. Like the dolphins in the fourth Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book, they bid us so long... having eaten our fish.

To Ben Rahier, this was a promising scene. Over the past 10 years, more and more marine animals have visited local waters, the acting field supervisor for the Powell River field office of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) told Powell River Living. These sea lions have joined the abundant orca, humpbacks and whitesided dolphins travelling the Salish Sea.

“They’re not all males,” Ben confirmed, refuting rumours that this was a men’s-only retreat. “There are lots of males, but there are lots of females and juveniles mixed in too. And a few Stellers (another, larger, species of sea lion.) It’s hard to tell [gender] with the Californias, because they all have that bump on their head. And, the male and female Californias are more similar in size to each other than the Stellers are.”

Susan McKay, the founder and CEO of the Wild Ocean Whales Society here in Powell River, has been watching both the sea lions and their human fans closely. Some humans, she said, got too close and even harassed the mammals with sticks and rocks.

“Apart from that being illegal, doing that is just very dangerous,” Susan said. “I mean, these animals weigh a ton. Any one of them could have flipped around and grabbed them and killed them without hesitation... Sea lions can move very fast. They have a hip joint that allows them to bring their back flippers back and push. Harbour seals have no hip joint, so they have to wiggle. Sea lions look docile, but they can inflict real damage.”

However, she said, people standing away from the sea lions near the beach and observing them do no harm. Locals may have observed the battle for dominance – the barking, pushing and biting on the rocks – which is practice for mating back home, where successful males will build a harem. You may also have watched the sea lions “raft,” that is, gather in the water on their sides, each with a flipper in the air. They’re regulating body temperature, Susan says.

When are they quiet? When there’s an orca around. A pod of 16 or 18 orca came through just after the sea lions arrived in early January, and ate a few. The pod swam back through later in January and ate a few more. That’s why there was so much competition to stay high on the rocks: safety, Susan explained. They’re quiet because they believe the orca can’t find them if they’re silent.

People also pose a real danger to sea lions, Susan says. One sea lion pictured here appears to be wearing a necklace. It’s not. It’s a plastic box strap and it has become embedded into his skin.

Here’s how to live peacefully with our new neighbours, Susan advises. Cut any of your garbage that has a loop. Don’t throw rocks. Don’t feed them. And we’ll be the best buddies on the Salish Sea.

So long, and thanks for all the fish

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Powell River Living February 2019