Derek Morton photos
Flash Mob of Sea Lions
California sea lions have learned how to jump in and out of commercial seine nets at will to exploit herring catches in the Strait of Georgia, including this one on Jan. 18 near Nanaimo.
Vancouver Sun
Veteran commercial fisherman Derek Morton describes it as an oceanic “flash mob,” a sudden swarm of California sea lions that descends upon commercial seine boats as they haul in their herring catch in the Strait of Georgia.
“That’s what it’s like. They show up fast, they’re there, and when it’s done, they’re gone.”
What makes the experience so extraordinary is the fact the sea lions have learned to slip in and out of the seine nets to exploit the herring catch at will.
“I think it’s in their genes now,” says Morton, who has fished various stocks on the B.C. coast for four decades. “They just hop over the cork line. They’ve got it down pretty good. Hundreds and hundreds of them.”
When a commercial seine boat sets its net and draws it in like a purse, the sea lions jump or slide over the net to gorge on the captive prey.
As the seine net is drawn closer to the vessel and the herring pumped onto the deck, the sea lions slip over the net again.
Fishermen are naturally not happy to see so many predators in their nets devouring part of the catch, and generally believe there are too many of the animals in local waters. But Morton says they’ve learned to live with the marine mammals and when one occasionally gets its teeth caught in the seine it is safely removed by adjusting the net or spraying the animal with a hose. Some fishermen bang the ship’s steel bollards with a hammer to try to scare the sea lions away.
“We put up with them,” he said. “But there are so many now. It’s amazing, actually.”