Solving the mystery of B.C.’s headless sea lions
While experts say they died naturally, others say they were killed for profit
VANCOUVER— Dozens of dead sea lions wash up on B.C.’s shores every year. Lately, some have been missing their heads.
About 80 sea lion carcasses have been reported on Vancouver Island so far in 2020, representing a slight increase in what is actually a “fairly common” occurrence, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Four sea lions were found with gun shot wounds. And then there were those found without heads.
Residents on Vancouver Island have reported several headless sea lions in recent months, according to a story published in May by the Victoria Times Colonist.
Then, this past week, photos of headless sea lions taken by a Nanaimo resident made headlines again.
A spokesperson from Fisheries and Oceans said the department is monitoring the incidents closely. Cutting off the head to hide evidence — like a gunshot wound, for instance — would be a criminal act, according to the department.
But where could the sea lion heads be now? Well, they could be in a museum. The Royal BC Museum in Victoria has 21,000 specimens of mammals, including bones, pelts and tissue samples. Only five specimens are currently on display for public viewing — the rest are stored away and serve as a source of DNA and isotopes for scientists, according to Gavin Hanke, curator of vertebrate zoology at the museum.
Artists also request to see specimens from time to time, so they can get anatomical and colour details correct, he said. The Royal BC Museum has 45 sea lion skulls. But none were obtained recently.
Most museums wouldn’t take an animal head and discard the body “so casually,” said Eric Taylor, director and curator at Beaty Biodiversity Museum and a zoology professor at the University of British Columbia.
“I seriously doubt if any reputable museum would ever collect skulls this way … certainly, the Beaty Museum would never engage in such actions,” he said.
That said, most animals that museums obtain and prepare as taxidermy mounts come from “salvage,” said Hanke.
Sometimes they are animals that die at wildlife rehabilitation centres, or those found by conservation officers, he said. The Royal BC Museum always works with local authorities to collect samples, said Hanke.
“When we take a whale skull, a whale skeleton, a sea lion or sea turtle, it is in partnership with (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and they dispose of the rest of the carcass,” he said. “Bodies are not left to litter beaches.”
The last time the museum received a skull was in 2018, when it acquired the skull of a male transient killer whale, T12A, according to Hanke. The orca was found dead on the west coast of Vancouver Island in 2016.
But while the most recent missing sea lion heads probably aren’t in a museum’s freezer, humans are still likely to blame for the decapitations, according to one vet.
Martin Haulena, head veterinarian at the Vancouver Aquarium and Ocean Wise, said that certain sharks, such as Greenland and sleeper sharks, do attack seals and sea lions head first, but that’s probably not what happened here.
“It’s possible, but it’s usually smaller pinnipeds that get taken like that.”
Pinniped s are flippered-mammals such as seals, walruses and sea lions. Steller sea lions can weigh up to 2,500 pounds.
Haulena has rescued dozens of stranded marine mammals, including several sea lions suffering from gunshot wounds. Six months ago, he tended to a sea lion that had been shot with a cross bow.
But can sea lions be decapitated by accident? For instance, by a propeller of a large boat? Not likely, said Haulena. He thinks the most likely scenario is that someone found a dead sea lion carcass — they often get bloated and then float to shore — and decided to cut off its head as a trophy.
“My concern would be more if someone had purposely killed an animal. That does not seem to be the case from what I understand right now.”
That’s exactly what Thomas Sewid wants to do.
The fisherman-turned sealhunt advocate believes the recent reports of headless sea lions are evidence of people taking advantage of a growing underground market for sea-lion skulls.
He believes allowing the commercial sale of seal and sea lion items would be good for both struggling fish stocks as well as for coastal Indigenous communities. Currently, Indigenous communities are allowed to harvest seals for food and cultural purposes only.
Sewid, a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation on Vancouver Island, said he has received over 120 emails in recent months from taxidermy enthusiasts interested in buying sea lion skulls.
“Right now, there’s a big demand. And there’s no legal supply,” said Sewid.
A male steller sea lion skull, with all of its teeth intact, goes for about $4,000 in the underground market, he said.
If Canadian authorities began allowing the commercial harvest and sale of pinnipeds, the price of a sea lion skull would likely drop by half, but still constitute a big-ticket item, he said.
Other parts of the animal are also worth harvesting, he said.
A sea lion pelt would fetch more than $500.
A cluster of whiskers, used to make ceremonial regalia in some Indigenous communities, would be worth up to $700.
Seal and sea lion meat could be sold either for human consumption, or to the pet food industry.
And the oil from sea-lion blubber, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, is worth $100 per gallon to the pharmaceutical industry, according to Sewid.
Sewid, who lives in Campbell River, said he does not sell sealion products himself. But he has been conducting market research to try and make the case for opening up a commercial market for pinniped products to Canada’s Fisheries and Oceans.
Sewid founded Pacific Balance Marine Management, an organization of fishers who believe seals and sea lions are to blame for B.C.’s struggling fisheries. The group’s Facebook page has more than 6,000 members.
A spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans told the Star it does not have plans to allow the commercial sale of pinnipeds “at this time.”
Sewid said many in B.C.’s fishing industry are frustrated that they cannot legally kill seals and sea lions in order to protect their catch.
“This is the tip of the iceberg,” he said, referring to the recent sea-lion deaths. “You’re going to see more headless and head-on bloaters coming onto the beaches.”