VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I was out at Pipers today, didn't have time to make it to Columbia with chores and all. Enjoying an afternoon session a little overpowered on a 4.7 but having fun none the less. During a run back to the beach fully powered up I notice a brown "blob" surface right in front of me. Before I even have time to think to react over I go, overpowered to zero in less then a second. As I figure out what happened and try to catch my breath as I am laying on the sail still hooked in I have two worries 1. I either injured or killed a seal and 2. he wants to return the favour. I scrambled onto my board and hung out to regroup and see if I could locate the seal but no luck, I hope with all there blubber I didn't do much. Finally I sail back to shore to see if there is any damage. I looked at the fin and it is OK then I look at the nose of my board and notice it took a nice whack, it has a gaping crack/hole about 4 inches long with the bottom of the board pushed out. More board repair for me.
I don't know it the nose of the board or the fin hit the seal but I think the nose damage is from my catapult. Anyway, be aware of the "speed bumps" out there.

Hopefully it was just a little seal and you didnt piss off a giant sea lion like the one that always seems to be stalking me at Columbia. best of luck with that repair!

dood, that's scary stuff Does anyone have data on sealion aggression? I understand paddlers are sometimes experiencing close calls. I in particular wonder about CB, apparently the fat surfers are back

OK, so I am resurrecting this thread as today I HAVE SOME FIRST-HAND DATA you should know about, so does the Beaner.

Today it's Herring Fest at CB, lots of sea birds feasting on them and the left-overs from others, you guessed it, our lion friends. Usually I am just concerned to run into one by fluke or get swept into their hanging areas, like Ruskie did one year.
Not today. Nope. Today was (moreso than yesterday) "avoid the drunken, drifting along sideways high as a kite on herring, literally tens of lions" day. They hung around together in groups or swam across the surf in twos or were just drifting and surfacing all over the place on their own. ..... EVERYWHERE...... but especially inshore in as little as 2' of water and all the way out on the bar. So, at first it was just "go slow, avoid and stay out" to sail but every time I did they were barking harder and harder. Some even seemed to follow us out into the deep water.....they were certainly observed swimming after us waaaaay out in twos. Kinda freaky Anyway, so this goes on for a while, me slapping my board and yelling when I get close to shore, avoiding ditching at any cost (it's amazing what you can do if you have some concern you might get chomped). There were those who would only get startled by loud yells they were so stoned, others were super startled when the finally noticed me almost upon them, some didn't even move a muscle and just barked at me.....those were the ones I stayed esp clear of. Some drifting with their "feet" tail flippers sticking straight upward into the air, others with their pectorals and tail flippers sticking up looking like some huge seabird (to those with marginal eyesight, ha )

But we did notice that the bulls would start to separate from the groups and started swimming toward us when we passed. This got so bad that once when I wanted to leave the beach, two bulls swam from two different groups toward one another, one from up the beachstart and one from below. With two feet of their massive torsos pushing wakes sticking out of the water they looked like big round jetskis under low power, literally cutting me off. I had to chicken gybe twice and only got through by mere few feet the third time, yelling at them at the top of my lungs. This was kinda the incident that pushed me over the edge.....well, and the fact the wind was dying Beaner was swearing at them too which probably just confirmed to them that we were indeed bad news and needed to be dealt with......I figure it's all his fault

Anyway, being underpowered and being chased by a 500++lb sea lion didn't exactly make my day if you know what I mean So then I was out and plotted my next move, barely planing while way out and the wind dying I sailed back and forth a few times to give things a chance to cool down, then sailed in quite a bit upwind from the earlier scene, promptly fell off the plane near shore and slogged in. I was already picturing being knocked down, scrambling over sail and board to keep from those chompers, yelling for help that obviously wouldn't come but.....once again.....good thing, the ambulance boys were having coffee at the beach What a nice coincidence, they might actually be of some use today As I got closer I saw one large bull and several other lions that dove away but I stayed mum except for singing "I'm just a log, see me float along, I don't eat herring, la..lalala...lala..."

Made it in sans barks or chomps, I would have been easy pickings for the earlier irate boys but maybe I got lucky again. All I know: People, I am NEVER sailing at CB during peak herring season again And I would suggest neither should you.

Just an edit here: I'm perhaps over-reacting, many of us have had sea lions around when sailing but today WAS REALLY FREAKY several times. Some potential drivers for the lion behavior: feeding frenzy, protecting the group & territory, maybe even mating going on, who knows. To me: not worth it, I'll wait til there are many fewer lions in the water.
See also http://www.bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewto ... t=sea+lion and
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... ons29.html

Moral of the story: kitesurf and go airborne when necessary.

Really though I know what you mean, I saw the upturned flippers n all on Monday - bizzarre even by sealion standards. I like the synchronized swimming look of 8 angry heads bobbing up and tracking you in unison, presicope style - that's amusing if you're well enough away ...

Dont forget the seals. There's a few brave out there too

I hear that they were starting a commercial seal hunt.
I think it may have started?

That Seattle Times article Kus linked is pretty disturbing - toxic algae from agricultural runoff leading to brain damage leading to abnormal behaviour/attacks?! And not just hype if they treated 200 animals for it last year.

However, even when the sea lions attacked people, there has been relatively minor injury, considering they could easily kill people if they wanted. Dunno if I'm comforted by that much though.....

I think I'd have a heart attack just by having one bump me off my board and me landing beside it guess I'm a bit of a whimp that way, something about a huge animal with teeth being close to your throat If there's one or two in the area, you can track them and they are doing their thing. Having one or even two come AFTER you repeatedly is the part I'm having a problem with

Everthing we do to nature will come back and bite us, as they say ...

Ah well, for the next week (starting Friday) I get to go play with grizzlies in early spring "something'phagy" (can't remember the term, its when they eat voraciously to try and recover from hibernation). And my FAC has expired so I can't even take my trusty old cut-down 12-guage. Should see about bear-spray I guess. Luckily, once they are eating (grass and shoots mostly), they are oblivious to anything/anyone else going by.

What about fixing up a hakapik holster on your sail sleeve for the sea lions?

hyperphagia -- A good word for the behaviour of these sea lions, from the sounds of it.

I have not heard of any serious injuries from sea lions to those doing watersports, even divers. I have, however, heard from divers that sea lions like to "play" with their equipment. It is funny how encounters with such a large animal with lots of big teeth have not yet resulted in anything serious (that I know of). Orcas on the other hand...

Orcas travel in groups
Resident Orca Whales tend to travel in large groups and have a tast for only fish They usually travel in Packs of 5 or more and are very Vocal
and playfull. A resident Pod of whales can be up to 40.


They are both Orcas but different spieces of orca.
Transients tend to travel in Packs of about three and
are not vocal under water because they are quietly looking
for prey. like dogs, Seals, Children, windsurfers,etc.

Last thing I want is a 'Darwin award' for spending quality time with marine mammals. (or Bears!!!) Yikes !!!

Good info. Transients do eat largely marine mammals (primarily seals and sea lions, sometimes sea otters) but there have been reports of them taking deer and moose swimming between islands, so they may be more apt to try different types of "exotic" food. An orca researcher mentioned to me that it is likely that people assumed to have drowned after boating accidents may have had other reasons for their disappearances.

I had this in mind while windsurfing at Pipers, when a 4 foot fin emerged between me and the shore.

~~~~~4j~~ wrote:I have not heard of any serious injuries from sea lions to those doing watersports, even divers. ..

Did you look at the Seattle Times link? I hadn't heard of injuries from sea lions before either (apart from the windmyth from CB last year!) but it sounds like there have been some now.