VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Sooo, I've been waiting on the sea lion thread but nobody's forthcoming.....how did Paul get his ass bitten How much fun was it and do we have pictures? I had my lovely experience at CB when the bull bit into the wave right in front of me, huffing and puffing and dove out of the way of my board in the last second leaving me thinking I was gonna nail him with my fin.

Story please Chewy: update on the Piper's incident incouraged as well

My kite went down at the end of that herring run last week. As I swam in there was a bank of probably 50 or more seals with heads pivoted toward me , watching curiously. They seem pretty mellow but it was still unnerving.

Luckily I was downwind of the area where the Sea Lions hang. But I had gangs of 4 or 6 days earlier really bobbing up, and huffing at me angrily as I rode by. I put it down to posturing but now I'm not sure. I was out today and I think the Sea Lion season is over. Not one to be seen.

I've been chased a couple of times by Steller sea lions in my kayak. It was much like being chased by a pack of large angry dogs to the edge of their property line.
The first time was while paddling along the outer islands of Barkley Sound and the other in the Belle Chain between Georgia Strait and Mayne Is.
This is a really good time to practice your most efficient paddling stroke.
In respect to the sea lions, I was in their front yard......which apparently is pretty big......and they never came close enough to threaten physical contact with the kayak although their noisy, high speed gang-like approach makes you wonder.
I was thankful that the Grey whales migrating through Barkley Sound weren't territorial. These gentle giants cruised along on the surface through the shallow narrow passages between islands and seemed to make eye contact with you......since you are at the same level in your kayak......as you respectfully let them go first.

Maybe the moral of that CB story was to avoid using sea mammals as jumping targets.

If you don't ride into them I guess they leave you alone.

Had a few agressive barking experiences when inadvertently sharing a wave with one of them. I figure hitting a 900kg blob of flesh at 30+ kmh is probably going feel aboout the same as ridign my bike into the back of a parked car, except the car proabably wouldnt be as likely to get pissed off and bite me afterwards. I generally consider it sea lion's wave regardless of who dropped in first.

Windwoman didn't talk about the sea lion barking at her at Columbia. As a beach stander I was wondering how to help if something really did happen.

Turtle.

I was always lead to believe, by parents who were both recreational divers, that you didn't have to fear the creatures of the sea. But I'll admit to chanting 'sea lions don't eat people.....sea lions don't eat people' that entire long swim back to shore as I tried to propel my legs as fast as I could hoping I didn't look like a mutant seal.
I think the moral of that story was not to use a small board in a dying wind when your friends are on big gear and still think you are going to find a wind line.........especially in herring season......unless you want to make it to the Darwin Awards!
The arrival of the Coast Guard Auxillary really wasn't necessary......I was on solid ground by then anyway.....with all limbs attached. Unfortunately, an hour later I just about lost an arm when I got hit from behind by a slippery board flying off the top of the camper. So......I returned to Victoria, packed in ice, wondering why I wasn't content to do 'more normal things.'

I think creatures of the sea are like bikers or teenagers. Alone they are usually nice creatures, usually just curious.
But put them in a pack, a group or gang, and no one should mess with them.
Espescially if they are partaking in something which doesn't happen often. Like a feast, or the love making.

For me one of the things that keeps me enjoying the ocean is, surviving.
Sometimes going out feels like a battle, and when I win. I feel great, even if it takes me a day or two to figure it out.
Most normal things in life, just won't cut it anymore.
At least, not give me the same amount of RUSH, as playing with Major Mother Nature.
Hope your arm feels better soon.

Thanks Sasha..... That happened a year ago and my arm is fully recovered. I was really glad the board didn't hit the back of my neck!

I just heard a report on shark attacks in California. There has been 7 confirmed attacks on kayakers by great white sharks. There goes my theory on feeling relatively safe with sea creatures. Recently a diver reported seeing a great white off of Ladysmith, B.C.

hey, hey, hey, enough of the hug fest already Pat you are drifting my thread, eh Just think tho, with a pissed-off sea lion around (or even the odd white pointer ) your waterstarts are bound to become automatic and instant Since whites like warmer water I always thought it a matter of time til one gets lost in Nitinat, now wouldn't that add some charm to the place

Still waiting on da butt bite story, c'mon Paul

I think where the great Whites live in N. Calif the water is the same temperature as here. They have washed up not long-dead on the beach at Skidegate. I doubt any shark would swim through Nitinat Narrows, but its not beyond imagination.

Nitnat is brackish (sort of sea water) and it is also a "dead" lake which means that there is a whole lot of CO2 in the water (especially at the bottom) because it doesn't turn over. When it does turn over it kills a lot of vegetation around the lake. A shark has to move quickly to get enough O2 into his system, and the water would be too cold to support this kind of fish for very long...in my opinion.

Turtle

Theres no 02 at some depth, but lots near the surface - but it probably is way too brackish - till August or so, after a drought, when there's lots of salmon and seals and these hairless blubbery creatures to feed on!

KUS wrote:hey, hey, hey, enough ... you are drifting my thread, eh

Still waiting on da butt bite story, c'mon Paul

Bump, ok Chewy, your turn