Locals and vacationers who’ve been close to the seawall in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour just lately might have seen or heard a number of the new marine neighbours.
A raft of California sea lions have made themselves at dwelling over the previous few weeks and so they’re attracting a number of social media consideration.
Nevertheless, whereas many might not recall ever seeing them in Coal Harbour earlier than, the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre stated it’s commonplace to see the big creatures round Vancouver at the moment of the 12 months.
“These are opportunistic animals. They’re going to go the place the meals supply is,” supervisor Lindsaye Akhurst stated. “So there’s doubtlessly extra of a meals supply in that space. Clearly, a lot of boat visitors, a lot of individuals visitors. We’re actually fortunate to be observing them in in downtown Vancouver.”
Akhurst stated B.C. waters are a plentiful meals supply for sea lions. Male sea lions sometimes migrate up from California in mid fall to relaxation and hunt fish right here and off the coast of Oregon. Following the herring spawn in March, the marine mammals will head again all the way down to California for the breeding season.
It’s unclear precisely what sort of meals might have attracted the raft to Coal Harbour or how lengthy they might stick across the space.
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The Marine Mammal Rescue Centre has been working with Fisheries and Oceans Canada over the previous couple of years to trace the motion of marine life and monitor their numbers.
Whereas the creatures have attracted crowds of individuals on the shore, Akhurst is reminding those who these are wild animals that may weigh upwards of 300 kilograms and that ought to be noticed from a protected distance.
“Folks get fairly curious. They wish to get shut. They wish to get that traditional selfie with these animals. (That’s) not really helpful in any form of method,” she stated. “We actually hope that folks have the possibility to have the ability to observe from a distance and simply get pleasure from it, as a result of it’s it’s type of a phenomenon right here proper now.”
She stated she doesn’t imagine the close by rowing membership, yacht membership, marinas or sea planes will trouble the ocean lions that a lot both.
Anybody who sees individuals interfering with marine life can report it to the Division of Fisheries and Oceans at 1-800-465-4336.
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