Sea Lions Wintering Along the Outer Coast of Vancouver Island

1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1764-1766
Author(s):  
Ian D. Smith

Aerial counts conducted on the north and west coasts of Vancouver Island during four periods in the 1970–71 winter indicated that more than 1980 sea lions used a total of 15 haul-out areas. Evidence is presented indicating that many winter haul-out areas are often deserted in summer.

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 2592-2595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy A. Stevens ◽  
Deborah A. Duffield ◽  
Edward D. Asper ◽  
K. Gilbey Hewlett ◽  
Al Bolz ◽  
...  

A preliminary assessment of mitochondrial DNA restriction patterns in the killer whale (Orcinus orca) was conducted using 10 captive North Atlantic killer whales from the southeastern coast of Iceland, a captive-born offspring of one of these whales, and 9 North Pacific killer whales. No restriction pattern variation was seen among these whales, using the enzymes BamH I, Bgl II, Hinf I, Kpn I, or Pvu II. Restriction pattern variation was found using the enzyme Hae III. This restriction endonuclease distinguished the North Atlantic killer whales (type 1) from the North Pacific killer whales. The North Pacific killer whales were further differentiated into two groups: those originating from the "resident" communities of the Vancouver Island region (type 2), and those from the "transient" community of Vancouver Island, as well as those stranded along the Oregon coast (type 3). The observed Hae III restriction pattern differences suggest that mitochondrial DNA analysis will be a valuable technique for investigating regional and local distributions of maternal lineages among killer whale pods, especially in the North Pacific.


1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boyd E. Benson ◽  
Kurt A. Grimm ◽  
John J. Clague

AbstractTwo sand sheets underlying tidal marshes at Fair Harbour, Neroutsos Inlet, and Koprino Harbour on the northwestern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, were probably deposited by tsunamis. The sand sheets become thinner and finer-grained landward, drape former land surfaces, contain marine microfossils, are locally graded or internally stratified, and can be correlated with earthquakes that generated tsunamis in the region. 137Cs dating and historical accounts indicate that the upper sand sheet was deposited by the tsunami from the great Alaska earthquake in 1964. Radiocarbon ages on plant fossils within and on top of the lower sand sheet show that it was deposited sometime after about A.D. 1660. We attribute the lower sand sheet to a tsunami from the most recent plate-boundary earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone about 300 yr ago, extending the documented effects of this earthquake north of the Nootka fault zone. The 1964 tsunami deposits differ little in thickness and continuity among the three marshes. In contrast, the lower sand sheet becomes thinner and less continuous to the north, implying a tsunami source south of the study area.


1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 674-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. Reiswig ◽  
H. Kaiser

A new species of Porifera, Mycale banfieldense (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida), is described from a semiobscure, intertidal cavern of the outer coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. This is the first species of Mycale from the Pacific basin known to possess micracanthoxea microscleres, and only the second such species worldwide. These microscleres, which average 4.2 × 0.2 μm, are the smallest sponge spicules discovered to date. They are formed individually within cytoplasmic vacuoles of anucleolate scleroblasts but each scleroblast contains 20 to 50 similar spicules.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Nyland ◽  
Graeme Warren ◽  
James Walker

<p>Around 8200 years ago, the Storegga tsunami, caused by a massive submarine landslide off the coast of Central Norway, struck the coasts of west Norway, Scotland and Doggerland. This event is well known from wide ranging geological and palaeobotanical work undertaken over the last 30 years. What has been less explored, however, is the potential social impact that this natural freak event had on the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies living on the coasts and shores of the North Sea. What happened in the tsunami’s aftermath? It has been widely assumed to have been a disaster – but was it? What constituted a disaster in the Mesolithic? In the Mesolithic, people were hunter-gatherer-fishers, they lived by, off, and with the sea. Settlement sites in West Norway were concentrated along the outer coast. People lived on the shores of islands and headlands, or along resource rich tidal currents. Eastern Scottish Mesolithic sites are also found on contemporary coasts, while the coasts of central Doggerland have long since become submerged. What happened to groups in these landscapes on the day the sea became a monster and in the years that followed? In this paper, we will outline a newly started project that will investigate the social impact of the tsunami in areas of the North Sea that have distinctive Mesolithic histories. These coastal inhabitants had, for millennia, developed their own traditions to engage with and learn how to exploit and keep safe from the sea. What can we learn about Mesolithic societies by investigating how communities handled the forces of a tsunami? Responses identified in the archaeological material and environmental archives can potentially inform us of social structures, institutions or ways of living that made the existing societies resilient or vulnerable.</p>


2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. York ◽  
J. R. Thomason ◽  
E. H. Sinclair ◽  
K. A. Hobson

We measured δ15N and δ13C values and tooth width from the first 4 years’ dentinal growth layer groups (GLGs) in the teeth of 113 female Steller sea lions ( Eumetopias jubatus (Schreber, 1776)) born between 1960 and 1983, a period that included a large population decrease and a climate regime shift. A linear discriminant analysis on the δ13C and δ15N values estimated 60% of Steller sea lions were weaned in their 1st year, 30% in their 2nd year, and 8% in their 3rd year. GLG-1 was wider in “weaned” animals than those still “nursing” in their 2nd year, suggesting that faster growing pups weaned earlier. Except during the regime shift, the average age at weaning increased and the size of GLG-1 in weaned animals decreased. We suggest that during the regime shift a greater proportion of pups which survived (to have their teeth sampled for this study) grew faster and were weaned by the end of their 1st year. We hypothesize that the long-term weaning age increase and growth rate decrease are consistent with a change in relative mortality of weaned pups and those that continued to nurse, possibly caused by a reduction in available resources, characterized as a switch from a “live-fast” to a “live-slow” life history.


1984 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 437-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Wellman

AbstractFrom 70 km northeast of Milford Sound (44.14° S, 168.55° E) to the coast at Milford Sound (44.53° S, 167.83° E) the trace of the Alpine Fault is nowhere more than 1.2 km from the arc with a centre at 48.81° S, 173.20° E and a radius of 628 km (5.65° latitude). Earthquake epicentres indicate that the arc defines the position of the fault just off Fiordland's outer coast and then to near the north end of Puysegur Trench at 46.9° S, 165.25° E. Along the fault vertically to a depth of 10 km the Fiordland rocks are 0.6 Mg/m3 denser than those to the northwest. Displaced post-glacial topography at and near Milford Sound shows that the dip of the fault is southeast at 75 ± 5° and that the faulting is pure dextral at a rate of at least 46 ± 5 mm/yr.


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