Karac Lindsay
Victoria, CA
Member since January 28, 2020
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T-Party
February 26th, 2020 Species: Transient Orca (Orcinus orca) Location: Victoria, British Columbia. While guiding a tour in the Salish Sea of British Columbia, we came across a large group of Transient orcas South of the capital city of Victoria. We quickly Identified the whales as belonging to two different families or matrilines, the T137's and T99's. After travelling and socializing for quit sometime, the group became distanced from each other. Suddenly, the matriarch of the T137's (T137, hence the name) breached out of the water, almost 20ft in the air. She then proceeded to breach 3 more times before getting back to her regular surfacing pattern. Shortly after this burst of energy, the two families began to gather up. It's believed that these surface actions often displayed by cetaceans are a form of communication, as well as a fun way to socialize with others. Her breaches seemed to grab the attention of the other whales, displaying the complex behaviours and intelligence of these magnificent icons of British Columbia. The name 'T-Party' refers to when multiple groups of Transient orcas get together to socialize and forage for food.
Chum
November 6th, 2020 Species: American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) Location: Goldstream Provincial Park, British Columbia An American Dipper feasts on a newly hatched Chum salmon alevin. I sat near the waters edge for 30 minutes while watching this dipper splash and plunge in the fast flowing river during the Chum salmon spawn of 2020. Dippers are the only family of Passeriformes that display this aquatic behaviour. These spawning events attract dozens of species to the rivers, looking for an easy meal. We often associate the importance of salmon with orcas, bears, wolves, and other charismatic megafauna, but this assiduous species directly and indirectly provides nutrients to hundreds of unique animals, including the curious dipper.
Sunset Splash
August 1st, 2020 Species: Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Location: Juan de Fuca Strait, British Columbia While guiding an evening tour in the South Salish Sea, we came across a large congregation of ~25 Humpbacks, presumably feeding on krill migrating to the surface from the depths. We first noticed the congregation from a few miles away after seeing large 'cartwheels' from a particularly excited individual. As we slowly made our way on scene, numerous whales began to display myriad surface active behaviours. Eventually 5 different whales were breaching, tail-slapping, and pec-slapping as the sun began to set, seemingly communicating in a sort of social manner, not uncommon in cetaceans. After sitting with our engines shut-off for over an hour, this individual decided to give us one last exuberant goodbye breach before the sun fell against the mountains of Washington State.
Big Bite
February 10th, 2020 Species: Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) and Big Skate (Beringraja binoculata) Location: Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, British Columbia. As a wildlife guide in British Columbia, I often get the opportunity to coordinate with and assist various research groups throughout the area. In early February 2020, some colleagues and I set out to document Pacific Herring South of Victoria, BC, Canada. We find these inconspicuous but ecologically important fish by looking for large congregations of marine birds and gulls, signalling a bait ball of fish below the water’s surface. On this particular day we were not having much luck finding any evidence of fish near the surface, until we came near Race Rocks ecological reserve, a small group of islands overlooking the South Salish Sea. I noticed a large splash from the corner of my eye, and before we knew it, a large group of gulls, murres, and cormorants flooded the area. As we approached the commotion, we realized it wasn't a bait ball, but a Steller sea lion who had found lunch. Sea lions will bring large meals to the surface in order to throw and rip their meals apart, providing some easy scraps for the quickest gulls. I’ve witnessed Steller’s feeding on numerous species this way, including salmon, spiny dogfish, and other skate species, but never a Big Skate (Beringraja binoculata) like the one pictured here. It was easy to see that the sea lion had his work cut out for him, working the meal for about 10 minutes before the excitement stopped. In BC, pinnipeds such as Steller sea lions are often victimised and blamed for declining fish stalks, specifically salmon. Something many people fail to understand is that while these species do eat small amounts of salmon, they also consume and mitigate mesopredator populations that do far more damage, such as spiny dogfish, a species of shark in BC that has a particular affection for juvenile salmon. Steller’s have historically been subject to government mandated culls and are a constant target for ‘misinformed’ commercial fisherman. As their numbers begin to reach normalcy, so does this delicate ecosystem.
Big Bite
February 10th, 2020 Species: Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) and Big Skate (Beringraja binoculata) Location: Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, British Columbia. As a wildlife guide in British Columbia, I often get the opportunity to coordinate with and assist various research groups throughout the area. In early February 2020, some colleagues and I set out to document Pacific Herring South of Victoria, BC, Canada. We find these inconspicuous but ecologically important fish by looking for large congregations of marine birds and gulls, signalling a bait ball of fish below the water’s surface. On this particular day we were not having much luck finding any evidence of fish near the surface, until we came near Race Rocks ecological reserve, a small group of islands overlooking the South Salish Sea. I noticed a large splash from the corner of my eye, and before we knew it, a large group of gulls, murres, and cormorants flooded the area. As we approached the commotion, we realized it wasn't a bait ball, but a Steller sea lion who had found lunch. Sea lions will bring large meals to the surface in order to throw and rip their meals apart, providing some easy scraps for the quickest gulls. I’ve witnessed Steller’s feeding on numerous species this way, including salmon, spiny dogfish, and other skate species, but never a Big Skate (Beringraja binoculata) like the one pictured here. It was easy to see that the sea lion had his work cut out for him, working the meal for about 10 minutes before the excitement stopped. In BC, pinnipeds such as Steller sea lions are often victimised and blamed for declining fish stalks, specifically salmon. Something many people fail to understand is that while these species do eat small amounts of salmon, they also consume and mitigate mesopredator populations that do far more damage, such as spiny dogfish, a species of shark in BC that has a particular affection for juvenile salmon. Steller’s have historically been subject to government mandated culls and are a constant target for ‘misinformed’ commercial fisherman. As their numbers begin to reach normalcy, so does this delicate ecosystem.