The most exhilarating experience I have had while SCUBA diving came from diving with sealions at Hornby Island, BC (one of the islands between the British Columbia mainland and the Island of Vancouver).
Natural History of the Hornby Sealions
Each winter, male sealions come to feed on the plentiful herring that is gathering to spawn in the Hornby Island area. It’s their vacation, leaving the females and young in Mexico and California. The local sand stone geology of the area makes for relatively good visibility and a shallow shelf on which SCUBA divers can rest. Sealions are *much* larger than seals, and they can stand on their front limbs. Although I’ve been told that three species of sealions can be found at Hornby, I’ve only ever encountered two: the Stellar sealion (much more playful, and featured in all of the videos that I am putting on this page), and the California sealion.
A Unique Experience – Time and Time again
After my first experience, I began an annual migration to Hornby Island myself, to swim with the playful sealions of the area. It can be a little intimidating have an animal that weights one tonne barrel through water heading straight for you… But they veer off at the last second, gracefully. They nibble on your hood and fins and gloves, they imitate your behaviour underwater. At the surface, they bark at you with their fishy breath. There’s no other feeling quite like it! On my last trip, I had a concussion and broken ribs (from a skiing accident the night before), so I could not SCUBA dive. I decided to snorkel with them instead. Imagine my delight when I discovered that they were just as interactive! I highly recommend the experience to anyone interested. Keep in mind that these are wild animals – keep a healthy respect, and recognize when their playfulness may be too much for a simple human to bear. The boat is always just a short swim away…
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I have dove with a variety of sea creatures in my life (sharks, turtles, octopus, barracuda, grouper, dolphin, various species of small fish), but by far the encounter that I will remember most is the sudden appearance of a sea lion when I dove in Port Hardy in 2003. One reason is because it scared the living lights out of me, but also because they are such beautiful and gracious animals (especially for their size). Thanks you for positing, your entry brings back a very fond memory.
I have never encountered sealions, but I know that these creatures, apart from being playful and swimming "gracefully", are fearsome predators. I also imagine they are expert swimmers( despite their weight). You must have courage, great knowledge and love for them in order to interact with sealions( males at that!) so freely! I am convinced, though, that sealion population is dwindling, isn't that so?
By the way, why haven't you encountered the third species of sealion?
Question:
Is it better to encourage people to experience sea-life by learning to dive, or otherwise in the wild, or by visiting aquaria? I'm stumped on this one.
I can see it one way, that in the wild there will be too much disruption to the animals and ecosystems, as visitors increase; the other way, it seems to introduce the real threat of cruelty, the behavioural problem of domestication, and the general commodification of animals.
Prompted by seeing your post, having come recently back from the Genoa (Italy) Aquarium, which is splendid, but clearly a bit of a plastic experience. (Thousands of kids snapping sealions through plexiglass, on their mobile phones.)
Any thoughts?
Post a Comment