Re: [Paddlewise] sea lions

Bob said:

<<< Has anyone had scary experiences with sea lions?>>>
<snip>

I had a big one follow me around for 10 minutes once off the top of
Vancouver Island. I got a bit worried when I sped up but the big fella
wouldn't relent. Considering I was paddling away from his apparent
"area", he must have inconvenienced himself to some degree by following
me, I figured...so why was he in hot pursuit? Perhaps simple "maleness":
chasing something in a skirt!

In today's local newspaper there was an article (another installment)
from a fellow and his partner paddling back to Victoria from Prince
Reupert. It was a lively account of their "struggles" down the
gale-blown shores of Vancouver Island's west coast. Anyway, he made
mention of hazards like sea lions swimming out to intercept them and the
concern this evoked on the trip. This is the first time I've run across
a paddler making mention of our blubbery friends as hazardous due to
simple curiosity. I took this as a suspense building ploy to tickle the
reader's ear - notwithstanding my own little encounter.

I generally give sea lions a wide berth, especially where they
congregate at high rocky outcroppings or small islands -- where a sea
lion impact would truly be a hazard (a fisherman died this way near a
rookery in Barkly Sound a few years ago).

My only story from the anal annals of  my adventurous journal accounts
(unlike your recent oh-so-mature and well written trip report -- as
usual) was the one time I was out off the tip of Wouwer Is. in the
Broken Islands (I think it was Wouwer). I had been playing in surge
channels all day off Cape Beale, then headed over across the opening and
chop to the outer islands. I saw a group of paddlers looking at some sea
mammals. In true asinine style, I road the surge clean over a frontal
reef area into a large pool of water, about the diameter of two kayak
lengths with no visible egress. To my surprise, I was right smak-dab in
the middle of a large number of rather annoyed, and rather large sea
lions. One big-daddy wasn't too pleased, showing off his bone-crushing
teeth. I could smell vile breath streaming out his noise-making orifice.
I could have touched him on his head with my paddle Others bobbed up to
join the inspection. It was a full 30 seconds before another surge came
available to wash me out the other side of the ring-rimed reef. It
seemed like an eternity, man staring at animal, animal staring at man. I
was very close to browning my wetsuit.

To make a short story long, the paddlers to the side of the island had
missed the whole episode, being out of view of the pool. I recounted the
details (not knowing when to shut up for my own good). Looks of
consternation would be an understatement. Then, this rather good looking
brunette lashed into me, citing a long list of kayak-related
insensitivity's the eco-system was undergoing with the growth of
recreational sea kayaking. She turned out to be one of the earlier
writers for Sea Kayaker Magazine (Roberta), a biologist. She was
furious, and needless to say I had made an impression -- but obviously
the wrong one. Sheepishly, I removed myself from the area, my heart
still in my mouth from the tide pool episode and my foot still in the
other side of my mouth from the recounting of the episode. I was,
however, glad not to have wound up in the carnivorous creature's
mouth.

Doug Lloyd

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