It’s guys’ time to hang out for bachelor California sea lions
Up to 2,000 eligible males congregate near Steveston before heading south to meet females in U. S. and Mexico
It’s B. C.’ s biggest bachelor party. Every year, up to 2,000 male California sea lions migrate north to B. C. waters, arriving in fall and heading south again in spring to join the ladies for the breeding season in Southern California and Mexico. And one of their last and most visible rites before swimming south is to gather near the far end of the eight- kilometre- long Steveston jetty in Richmond.
“It’s quite amazing,” says Bruce Livingston, a retired divorce lawyer who now operates Steveston Ecotours. “People don’t realize what’s on their doorstep.”
Livingston recorded the first California sea lion of the season on March 16, with numbers peaking at 83 individuals on May 8, along with 31 bald eagles, including two pairs on nests built on navigational aids.
About 50 of the marine mammals are there now, visible only from a vessel; their numbers are expected to continue to decline into early June.
Under Canadian law it is illegal to disturb a marine mammal, although these sea lions barely take notice of passing vessels. “They don’t seem to care about it,” says Livingston. “They’re more concerned about protecting their rock.”
According to the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California sea lion populations grew steadily after they were afforded protection in the 1970s and now exceed 200,000 individuals.
Young male and female California sea lions look similar, with blond or light brown fur. When males reach four to five year old, their fur darkens, and they develop a blond patch on top of their head.
Adult males exceed two metres in length and weigh more than 300 kilograms.
Sea lions enjoy a wide diet, including squid, octopus, anchovies, mackerel, rockfish and groundfish, hake, sardines, and oolichans, and are known to take fish from fishing lines.
In local waters, their main predators are mammal- eating killer whales.