Whale-less

Looking into Resurrection Bay from Seward Harbor

We've been away from the blog and our readers (i.e., Moms) have voiced discontent. Job hunting, projects at work and travel plans have squeezed out bloggin' time. This here post is a belated entry from our Seward whale getaway last month. We left Rebel the weinerdog with some friends in Anchorage and drove over Turnagain Pass late Friday night after work. After driving through heavy snow and grabbing a quick sleep in the Holiday Inn Express, we caught the first boat out of the Harbor Saturday morning for a glimpse of migrating grey whale.

Aboard the Kenai Star

Before boarding the Kenai Star on Saturday morning we were excited to hear a few people say that they had seen "killers" and "greys" at the mouth of the Bay the day before. We popped in our whale eyeballs and donned raingear (temp: 41, winds: 40 mph, rain). On the way out of Resurrection Bay our captian pointed out a couple otters, several pods of Dall's porpoise, "bald-headed eagles," and a mountain goat with her kid on the shore.

Kittiwake rookery and sea lion haul-out

After passing a kittiwake rookery and a sea lion haul-out we "trawled" the mouth of the Bay for about 40 minutes hoping for spouts or a fluke. Although it felt great to get a face-full of seasalt air, we had to steam back to port with nary a whale in our scopes. The trip refreshed our sealegs and gave us a taste of our all-to-brief year on the water.

Almost Kodiak, but not quite

Steller Views

After an “ice hike” on Saturday Meghan got a call from the Judge who said that St. Herman's Harbor was full of sea lions. Immediately, I thought of predator-prey interactions. Perhaps the sea lions were in the harbor to avoid a pod of orcas that have been known to swim through the area as early as February. Hopeful that we might see the first orcas of the spring we dropped Rebel at home and sped to the harbor. Once on the dock we could see and hear 10 - 15 Steller sea lions gorging on flat fish and rock fish. When a sea lion would bring a fish to the surface it would shake the fish to tear it apart. Meghan made sure to avoid contact with the humongous bulls. The Judge, eager to capture a “National Geographic moment” with his camera faced a large bull that swam at the Judge and raised its enormous head out of the water.
In the air above, gulls and bald eagles took their chances at a free meal, swooping down to retrieve fish flesh discarded by the sea lions.
A friend of ours, born on Kodiak Island, suggested that the nets of a “dragger” might have been emptied out in the harbor. Indeed, an Alaska State Trooper standing aboard the Patrol Vessel Wolstad said that someone may have “done somethin’ illegal.” Although I had nothing to hide and even standing there with the judge and clerk of the Kodiak court, I felt his suspicious eye scan my movements for clues.

Meghan politely avoiding eye contact

From the Alaska Fisheries Science Center: The Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) is the largest member of the Otariid (eared seal) family. Males may be up to 10 ft in length and can weigh up to 2,400 lbs. The species exhibits a high level of sexual dimorphism. For example, a typical female may only weigh 1/3 of the weight of the largest males.
Steller sea lion are distributed across the North Pacific Ocean rim from northern Hokkaido, Japan, through the Kuril Islands, Okhotsk Sea, and Commander Islands in Russia, the Aleutian Islands, central Bering Sea, and southern coast of Alaska, and south to the Channel Islands off California. During the May-to-July breeding season, Steller sea lions congregate at more that 40 rookeries, where adult males defend territories, pups are born, and mating takes place. Non-reproductive animals congregate to rest at more than 200 haul-out sites where little or no breeding takes place. Sea lions continue to gather at both rookeries and haul-out sites outside of the breeding season.

Who's the boss?

Click here to find a database of Steller sea lion food habits.