TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2009 GRAY WHALE, CALIFORNIA SEA LION, NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL, BALD EAGLE & BROWN PELICAN

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2009 GRAY WHALE, CALIFORNIA SEA LION, NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL, BALD EAGLE & BROWN PELICAN

Sounds like the start to a bad joke, or maybe an inventory list from Noah's Ark, but we, in fact, had this amazing variety of creatures on our trip today.

Venturing out from Victoria we headed to the South West past Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

At Helicopter Rock, we encountered 5 or 6 Northern Elephant Seals hauled out, sunning themselves.

On the Eastern shore of Great Race Rock, Ron Bates, well known for his knowledge of birds, found a Brown Pelican.

Above us Ron spotted a Bald Eagle soaring on the warm afternoon updraft.

Just South of Race Rocks is Rosedale Rock, and lo and behold we found a California Sea Lion sitting on the green "Can" buoy that marks that hazard.

And at Crescent Bay, on the North shore of the Olympic Peninsula, our presence was graced by a Gray Whale. Note the barnacles on the top of the head of the Gray Whale.


This species of barnacle (Cryptolepas rhachianecti) is found only on gray whale skin in the Wild. The barnacle itself is a filter feeder, sticking its feathery legs out of its shells and gathering microscopic plankton from the water. These whale barnacles use the whale as a substrate for attachment and the current of water passing over the whale to bring them lots of plankton. The barnacle does not have to expend a lot of energy filtering the water because the whale provides all the movement. (Most barnacles attached to solid substrates must expend a lot of energy kicking their legs in and out to get enough plankton to survive.)

Photos by Ron Bates of Marine Mammal Research Group (MMRG)