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TRACKING DEVICES ON SEA LIONS
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| We often encounter marine mammals in the reserve which have been marked when trapped in another location as part of a scientific study. We are including in this file a set of pictures of marine mammals which have been tagged in various studies, along with the particulars of the observations. |
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| BRANDING OF SEA LIONS: |
Pam Birley of Leicestershire England, sent this communication about her quest to find out about one of the brands she had observed from the remote camera 5 on a sea lion at Race Rocks in November 2005.. her picture is shown here:
"I am trying to find out where California sea lion No.935 was branded - have written to NMML on their information request. Will let you know if I hear anything. Learned a lot by searching though...brands can be hot brands or cold (hydrogen) - that was new to me - don't like the idea of either really but I can see it helps research. The reply came back from Pat Gearin. Actually we still don't know where the sea lion came from originally before they tagged it. This whole thing sparked my curiosity when somebody posted a picture of a sea lion in Alaska with a big x(number) mark on its rear and I discovered that the Alaskan sea lions are branded with different prefixes for different areas, the 'x' mark being for Sugarloaf Island and that led me to try and find out where #935 came from."
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 13:15:01 -0800
From: "Pat Gearin" <Pat.Gearin(use the at sign here) noaa.gov>
Subject: Information on branded sea lion # 935
Hello Pam, the sea lion with brand # 935 was captured and tagged at Shilshole Bay near Seattle, Washington on June 4, 2004. This animal is one of about 1,000 sea lions captured in Washington from 1995-2005 as part of studies by our laboratory to learn more about these California sea lion males. Studies on disease, distribution and movements, food habits and fisheries interactions have been conducted. This particular animal weighed 300 kg and was 227 cm long when captured. This is the first resight of this animal since he was released. Thanks for your interest and for the sighting record. Pat Gearin.
See this paper on branding Northern Sea Lions.
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| #16 October 2002 |
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We often see sealions in the reserve with brands, probably by hair clipping (#16) . In this video several sea lions with brands were hauled out near the docks in October 2002. |
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| #12? November 2005 |
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A photo taken underwater of a Northern sea lion with brand (#12)?.. Nov 12, 2005.. |
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| # 935 June 4 2004 See letter above which started us on the process of assembling this tracking file. |
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# 935 was captured and tagged at Shilshole Bay near Seattle, Washington on June 4, 2004
Image by PB Nov.2005
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#805: Pictures taken Apr 23, 2006 Race Rocks Docks,
( PB photos)
... Hello Pam, thanks for the resight information and attached photos. |
April, 2006. This animal is number 805, first captured and branded at Shilshole Bay on October 25, 2001. At that time he weighed 693 pounds and was 243 cm long. |
He was later recaptured at Shilshole Bay on 7 May 2003 and weighed 850 pounds and was 250 cm long. He's considered a "jumbo" sea lion and is obviously a large adult who may be 15 plus years old by now. |
His only other resight was on September 15, 2003 in Northern California.
(Response from P.Gearin.NOAA)
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| # 101 observed May 7, 2007 by PC students. |
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# 658 May 29, 2006
(GF photo) |
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#632: Observed June 7, 2006.
This sealion was captured on 10/22/99 at Shilshole Bay in Seattle. At that time he weighed 636 pounds and was 230 cm long. At that time he was probably 12 plus years old so he's an older sea lion now for sure. |
His only previous resight was at San Miguel Island, California in 2000.
From e-mail of 13 June 2006 to PB from Pat Gearin of NOAA.
(PB photos)
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| #822 Observed Aug 15, 2007, also on Aug 30, 2007. Photos by Roth Wehrell, UVic. |
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| #822 Observed Aug 28, 2006, PB photo. |
This animal was originally captured at Seattle on 19 April 2002 and weighed 400 pounds and was 211 cm long. |
The only other resight we have for this sea lion so far is from Cascade Head in central Oregon in August of 2004... P.Gearin |
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| #822 Observed in the same pose! Oct19, 2007 (PBPhoto) |
Quite an amazing coincidence to get the same sea lion back a year later, doing the same manouever on the jetty railing. Thanks to PB for this unique set of photos. |
The aluminum box on the right was added in the past year to house a control box for a fibre optic installation to the turbine. |
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| #683 observed Sept 12, 2007 photo by PB. |
This sea lion with brand 683 was first captured in Seattle in April of 2000 and weighed 319 pounds and was 184cm long. He has only been seen since a few times at Everett. (PG) |
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| #2508, and
#C722 observed Sept 16, 2007 by Chris Blondeau.
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The animal # 2508 was marked as a pup at San Miguel Island, California in September of 1993 so he's 14 years old now. |
The animal with the "C" brand was recently marked at Astoria, Oregon, probably within the last 6 weeks. The marking at Astoria is being conducted by the |
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife with Matt Tennis leading that program. All "C" brands are from animals captured in the Columbia River area. |
| # 740: tag Deceased November 9, 2007 by Mike Slater: Location: North side Great Race Rock. (Peg#15 visible) |
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| On November 12, 2007, this storm from the northeast commended # 740 to the depths. |
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This dead sea lion (brand 740) was first captured in January of 2001 in Seattle and he weighed 520 pounds and was 230 cm long. He was recaptured again in May of 2001 and weighed 630 pounds then. Based on his size at the first capture, he was probably a fairly old male when he died, probably 15-18 years old. He had been resighted 7 times since his first capture at Cascade Head in Oregon, off Everett Washington and most recently in 2005 at Wouwer Island in Barkley Sound BC by Brian Gisborne.
( Nov 2007..Pat Gearin NOAA) |
| In early November 2007, Mike Slater took this picture of a Northern Sea lion with a large tumor-like growth on the side of its face. |
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On August 22, 2009, this same animal was photographed on Mittlenatch Island by Richard Nay. |
| Number 3284 reported at jetty on September 16, 2008 |
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| C417 images sent by PB Sept 28, 2008. This is an animal captured at Astoria in the Columbia River by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife crew. The "C" above the number denotes Columbia River. The lead person in charge of these captures is Matt Tennis. |
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 This male was first captured and tagged on March 27, 2003. At that time he weighed 155 Kg. C417 has been seen as far south as Cape Arago, Oregon. Matt reports "The last time I saw him was on August 15th, 2008. He is a regular visitor to the Columbia River and that is were he is seen most of the time. The sighting is the first BC sighting we have for him," |
| #137Y Image by Ryan Murphy . A Northern Sea Lion on South Rocks taken on February 15/09 |
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Initial identification was given by Pat Gearin of NOAA.
#137Y. This is a 7 year old male marked at St. George Reef in 2002 as a pup. He was sighted about a week ago at Kelp Reef in the Strait of Georgia. To date, there have been about 15 sightings of this sea lion, including 3 from Washington State, one from Oregon and now 11 from BC. Most of the BC sightings have been from the outer SW coast of Vancouver Island at Carmanah, Pachena, Barkley Sound and once at Estevan Point.
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#137Y Image by PB from remote cam 5
on April 18/ 09 |
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From Pat Gearin:
Hello Pam and thank you for reporting this observation of 137Y. This is a 7 year old male marked at St. George Reef in 2002 as a pup. He was sighted about a week ago at Kelp Reef in the Strait of Georgia. To date, there have been about 15 sightings of this sea lion, including 3 from Washington State, one from Oregon and now 11 from BC. Most of the BC sightings have been from the outer SW coast of Vancouver Island at Carmanah, Pachena, Barkley Sound and once at Estevan Point. |
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#75Y Image by PB from
remote camera 5
on May 14, 2009 |
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# 75Y, a 7-year old male from St. George Reef, CA. He has 11 previous resights, including 2 from Washington and 9 from BC. I think you reported him at Race Rocks previously on 22 April 2008. He was also sighted numerous times along the SW coast of V.I. as recently as Sept. 2008. |
#585? Image by PB from remote camera 5
on May 18, 2009 |
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#651 Image by PB from remote camera 5
on June 4, 2009 |
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#651 is a very interesting sighting. It was first captured and marked in Seattle in April 2000 at 356 pounds. At that time he was probably 5-6 years old which makes him pretty old now, probably 14-15 years old. |
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He's only had 4 previous sightings to date, including 3 from Everett, Puget Sound in 2001 and the last in Barkley Sound, BC in September 2001 |
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#94R Image by G F.
From the back steps of the
ecoguardian's house.
August 11th, 2009
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The animal is with the newly returned group that are hauled out on the north shore beyond the winch. "This is brand 94R, an 8-year old male marked at Rogue Reef, Oregon in 2001. He has quite a sighting history, 65 resights from northern California to British Columbia. Interestingly though this is the first observation of him in the inland waters of the Pacific NW, and the first resight from 2009. All his previous BC sightings have been from Carmanah and Pachena Point"
Pat Gearin-NOAA |
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#105_? Image by GF
on the north-east side of the docks. August 18,2009 |
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Pending ID |
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| #C848 Image by Pam Birley, August 30, 2009 hauled out by WInch |
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This animal was marked at Astoria, OR on the Columbia River |
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| #1032? Image by GF, August 30, 2009 hauled out by WInch. late evening. Camera 1 on night vision. |
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 Pending ID |
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#1344 image by GF
from Remote cam1
Sept 8, 2009. East of winch house |
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 Pending ID |
#998 image by GF
from the top of the tower
Sept 8, 2009 |
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 Three brands and two neck rings in one picture
Pending ID |
#849 image by GF
from the top of the tower
Sept 8, 2009. |
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Pending ID |
#?81 image by GF
from the top of the tower
Sept 8, 2009 |
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Pending ID |
#C417 image from remote cam5 by PB
Sept9, 2009 |
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| The following have been contributed by RM further details will follow.
#C403
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Pending ID |
| #C_?67 |
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Pending ID |
| #C848 image by PB, also seen by Ryan, on cam 5 on Aug 30/09, note tag on right front flipper. |
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Branded in Astoria Washington
"I spotted C848 amongst a big crowd of sealions, both California and Steller, which are making themselves at home on Great Race just now. His brand is very clear and I also see he has a tag on his foreflipper." PB
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| #998 |
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 Pending ID |
| #931 |
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Pending ID |
| #926 |
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Pending ID |
| #1?03 |
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Pending ID |
| #7?9 |
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Pending ID |
| #030 |
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Pending ID |
| #?0_? |
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Pending ID |
| #1 |
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Pending ID |
| #0? |
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Pending ID |
| #_?23 |
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Pending ID |
| #C417 Sept 23,2009 resighting by GF and Ryan. PB photographed it here one year ago, see image above. |
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| #C403, last week of Sept, 2009 reported by Ryan |
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| #C868 , Sept.26,2009 is also badly injured on the front flipper. |
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| #321R Sept 27,2009, image by PB from cam5. |
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| #1032 Sept 28, 2009, image by PB on remote camera 5 |
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This California sea lion male 1032 was captured and marked by Pat Gearin in May 2007 at Shilshole Bay, Seattle as a 350 pound animal. He's probably about 7-9 years old now. This is the first resight of 1032 so it's also a valuable addition. |
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#269Y Oct 8, 2009 Image by PB from remote camera 5
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The Steller sea lion # 269Y is a five-year old male branded at St. George Reef, CA in July 2004 as a pup. He has six previous resights including two from Washington in 2005, one from Bonilla Point BC in 2005, one from Chearnley Inlet BC in 2006, one from SE Alaska in 2006 and the latest from Patrick's Point CA in July 2008. This animal is typical of young male Steller sea lions which range widely for the first 5-7 years before reaching breeding age. |
#7507 Oct 2,2009 Image by PB from remote camera 5
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#6262 Oct 10, 2009 Image by PB from remote camera 5
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#5431 Oct 2,2009 Image by PB from remote camera 5
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this animal is a 9-year old male which was marked on San Miguel Island, CA in 2000 as a pup. Brands applied to the left flank on California sea lions are from San Miguel Island, off southern California. |
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;)
