[CINC] CX 05/03/08

Mon May 5 12:51:44 PDT 2008

Well I Googled ³branded sea lions² and this is what I got from The Marine
Mammal Center located in in Northern CA.
They are answering questions about why California sea lions have chosen to
haul out at PIER 39's and other behaviors, etc.
Below in question #26, 27 and 28 deal with branding. Question #4 and 5 might
be the answer to why we see them here.
Below the following questions are a couple of more links dealing with
pinniped branding.

Here¹s the link where I got the info...
http://www.tmmc.org/learning/education/pier39/faqs.asp

Here is the link to The Marine Mammal Center website
http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/

Hope this helps.
Staci

26. Why are sea lions branded?
Some sea lions are permanently branded by researchers, who want to track
them throughout their lives. A few branded sea lions can provide a wealth of
information about range, behavior and life history. Tags are not as reliable
as brands because, they may fall off or their numbers may wear off.
Additionally, brands are easier to see than flipper tags.

27. How are they branded?
Numbers are put on with either a hot or cold brand. Hot brands are done with
a heated metal number and cold brands are a copper number chilled with
liquid nitrogen. With both procedures, sea lions must be held still. Hot
brands take seconds to leave a mark, while cold brands may take about a
minute. Hot brands are easier to do, but they destroy fur follicles and can
cause deep damage. Cold brands are not as damaging, and the fur grows back
white in color making the numbers clearly visible.

28. Do these procedures hurt them?
It¹s impossible for us to know exactly what sensations animals feel, we can
only observe their reactions and make an educated guess. While they do
flinch or react to tagging and branding, they recover and heal very quickly.
Tagging can be compared to getting an ear pierced. Branding is likely to be
more painful, but again, the sensation would only be temporary.

4. Do the sea lions stay here all year?
Yes and no. From late summer to late spring, 150-300 sea lions haul out
here. In June and July, most of the sea lions head south to breeding grounds
on the Channel Islands, but a few dozen have remained throughout the summer
in recent years. In late July, non-breeding subadult males and females begin
to migrate north again. Other breeding males travel north later. Some males
migrate as far north as British Columbia, Canada, and Alaska.

5. How far away are the Channel Islands, and how long does it take the sea
lions to get there?
The Channel Islands are 370 miles by land from San Francisco, off the coast
of Santa Barbara. If a sea lion swam at maximum speed (25 mph), the trip
would take it approximately 15 hours. However, sea lions don't swim at
maximum speed; they take their time. It probably takes them a few days.

Judge Halts Hot Branding of Stellar Sea Lions
May 31, 2006 ... The research at issue involved the annual capture and hot
branding of 3000 Steller sea lions.
After branding, the sea lions were subjected ...
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2006/2006-05-31-05.asp

Hot branding: A technique for long-term marking of pinnipeds
Hot branding provides a marking technique which meets these criteria. Using
hot branding equipment and techniques developed for studies of Steller sea
lions ...
www.afsc.noaa.gov/techmemos/nmfs-afsc-68.htm

On 5/5/08 10:59 AM, "Mr Zalophus" <mr.zalophus at gmail.com> wrote:

> Among the mobs of California sea lions that several naturalists reported
> seeing last weekend, some were "branded" with large, 4-digit numbers.  Even
> Capt. Dave Beezer, who volunteers at the rescue center near Gaviota, did not
> know what research institution marked the sea lions like this.  Does anyone
> have any information about who's responsible for this sea lion marking method?
> Is there a website?
>  
> Bob Perry
>  
> Photos of sea lion acres and "branded" individuals are posted on my website:
> http://www.MarineBioPhotography.com
> Under the section for the Condor Express, 2008 05-03 trip.
> 
> ----------------  --------------
> On 5/3/08, Sally Eagle <sally.eagle at cox.net> wrote:
>> Condor Express
>> 
>> Saturday, 05/03/08
>> 
>> 3 trips: 900, 1200, 1500
>> 
>> 8 Humpbacks (including "Rope" on the 1500 trip), sea lions, pacific white
>> sides, commons, more sea lions, hundreds of sea lions, 2 Xantus's Murrelets,
>> and 3 harbor seals on the bait barge.
>> 
>> Most activity in the 34° 17.20  119° 41.27 vicinity, all day
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> The Channel is filled with bait and all those that love to eat bait fish. The
>> ocean is clear and cold. Big swells but not all that much wind.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> This morning two lively humps perfected their breaching, performing together,
>> side by side. Could you hear the whoops on shore? Certainly every creature in
>> the water heard or felt the impact when those two hit the water. I don't
>> think anyone captured it on camera, but none of us will forget it.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> For humpback tricks today John Kuizenga and I tallied:
>> 
>> 1 double (duo) breach
>> 
>> 2 single (solo) breaches
>> 
>> 1 spy hop
>> 
>> 4 pec slaps
>> 
>> 5 tail throws
>> 
>> Flukes too numerous to count
>> 
>> Lots of trumpeting
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> And, yes, the multitudes of sea lions did their versions of all of the above.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> However, not all the visitors to the Channel are humpbacks --- there are many
>> tourists from "away" spending their Euros in Santa Barbara and exploring the
>> bounty of our waters. We may have to add a foreign language component to the
>> CINC training.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> As ever, a wonderful dayŠŠŠ..on one of the last trips of the gray whale
>> season.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> BTW Bob Perry was out photographing the 9:00 and 12:00 trips. He says he will
>> have those photos posted on his website by Monday. You can see the fun for
>> yourselves.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
> 
> 
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