Nature Minute: Sea Lions and Whales

Friday, June 16, 2017

Sea Lions and Whales

Summer weather is hear for most of us (off and on here in the Northwest- off as I write this) so let’s take another trip to the beach in search of marine mammals. Actually, this a recap of a trip to the beach I took in December 2014. I went to Florence, Oregon to check out the local pinnipeds and cetaceans. What are those you ask?

Cetaceans are whales and pinnipeds are critters such as seals and walruses. Pinniped means fin footed, and the feet of these critters are modified into swimming flippers. Maybe you’re wondering why I went to the beach in December. I actually stopped by the Sea Lion Cave in August, but the sea lions weren’t home. Sea Lion Cave is the largest sea cave in the world, home to a Stellar sea lion rookery. During the summer the sea lions are out to sea, and I got so see some swimming at a distance. Because they weren’t home, I got a rain check to return any time within a year and chose December because they would be roosting and migrating gray whales would be passing by.

For those of you outside of the Northwest, this was a big gamble, picking out a weekend to get a hotel months in advance. The weather is notoriously wet in this corner of the world, especially during the winter months. On the coast, winds can reach hurricane force during a good storm. And I was betting that I’d have good enough visibility to see a whale out there somewhere.

I was either lucky or a genius. Saturday’s drive to Oregon and Sunday at the cave were great for driving and whale watching. Inside the cave smelled of sea lion, but the fresh sea breeze kept the smell from becoming overwhelming. It’s a noisy place, alive with the sounds of crashing waves and the grunts and groans of half-ton beasts. No flash photography, and humans are in a cage to keep us and the sea lions safe from each other.

Lion's den, devoid of sea lions (summer 2014)

Incoming wave at the sea-facing opening of the lion's den (summer 2014)

Outside, squadrons of gulls and guillemots patrolled the skies above. Heceta Head Lighthouse kept watch to the north, southward were the city of Florence and the towering Oregon Dunes. The back side of the Sea Lion Cave gift shop (at the top of the elevator down to the “lion’s den”) is a picnic area and observation deck on a bluff over a hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean. All around were sea bird rookeries. It’s a huge area to scan, hoping to see a whale drift by. What are the odds that one would surface right where I was looking? I didn’t see any whales that day but I did see the spouts of a few. This was exciting for me, since I’d never seen a whale before, other than Shamu and friends in Orlando.

Pigeon guillemot (from Audubon Society)

Gray whale (from NOAA)

Stellar sea lion (from NOAA)

Rain and fog settled in north of Salem as I headed back home after a successful day of new wildlife encounters. Since then I’ve encountered harbor seals just offshore from Tacoma and I would love to do a whale watching cruise in the San Juan Islands. What do you watch for when you hit the beach?