Peter Kearney has lived in his Bowen Island residence for greater than 20 years and has lately been seeing sea lions climbing onto his neighbour’s dock.
Though he is noticed California sea lions within the spring, the current sighting marks his first time seeing them on the docks this winter.
“They bark all throughout the night time,” Kearney mentioned. “We occur to take pleasure in it, it is sort of like the blokes serenading you, however I can see how some individuals do not.”
The barking of seal lions could also be a nuisance to residents with waterfront properties on the island — situated in Howe Sound simply off B.C.’s Decrease Mainland — however it’s music to the ears of Bob Turner, the island’s former mayor, a retired scientist and a member of the Bowen Island Conservancy.
He says the presence of the marine mammals is a optimistic signal for the ecosystem.
“We have colloquially known as it the Nice Howe Sound Restoration,” Turner mentioned.
He says sea lions, the overwhelming majority of that are California sea lions, have turn out to be extra ample within the space over the past decade or in order they’ve discovered extra to feed on.
“Anchovy are the brand new child on the block,” he mentioned. “They’re the nice and cozy water cousin of herring. About 2015, we realized they have been beginning to spawn in Howe Sound and ever since then, their numbers have gone up. And so we watch the ocean lions feed simply offshore.”
He says industrial air pollution in Howe Sound over the previous decade has decreased and marine life, similar to seals, orcas and humpback whales, are returning to the world.
Turner notes that some waterfront residents have blocked off their docks with fencing in an effort to maintain the marine mammals away.
He says he is uncertain why sea lions bark, however has watched keenly to attempt to perceive their behaviours. He is seen they sit quietly on a raft or dock till one other sea lion desires to hitch them.
“The entire place erupts and it takes 10 minutes for the issues to cool down,” Turner mentioned. “They may do that all night time.”
In line with the Vancouver Aquarium, California sea lions talk by barking and different sounds.
The creatures are protected underneath the Marine Mammal Safety Act and the Endangered Species Act, which implies it is tough for residents to deal with all of the ruckus, Turner says.
However not everybody minds.
Like Turner, Kearney sees the presence of sea lions as signal.
“I feel it is a reflection that what these guys feed on, there’s a number of it round as a result of if there wasn’t, they would not be right here,” he mentioned.
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