Sunderland Channel, B.C., Canada / Sept. 2014

Another guy’s boating trip. We came upon an islet rock that had a pile of sea loins on it with one very large bull male. But as we continued cruising, I saw the other lone male bull further away. It appears these two bull males have a harem to share but believe it or not, they may all be immature males. This is because the young males and older bulls who are beaten off in the mating duals, leave the breeding areas until the next rutting season when they’ll try again. I suppose they hang out at the local rock bar until its time to hit on some females.

As secure and safe as it seems, if any transient killer whales ever saw this, they would jump out of the water and land next to the sea lions and likely grab one with their teeth. But the rest of the sea lions would freak out and all jump into the water where the other killer whales would be waiting to begin a massive slaughter.

I clicked this one just as those low flying sea birds crossed my field of view to add an element of motion and detail to the otherwise calm waters.