A peaceful day of fishing in Pedder Bay was ruined for a Saanich couple when a panicked California sea lion launched itself out of the ocean onto their 14-foot aluminum boat in a desperate attempt to escape a group of transient killer whales. Ernest and Viesia Godek saw the orcas and cut their motor on Monday afternoon. But they were shocked when shortly afterwards “there was this huge bang on the bottom of the boat”. A few seconds later a terrified sea lion popped its head over the side of their boat and came into contact with the side of the boat. “It looked like it was in a lot of trouble because it was breathing heavily and its teeth were exposed,” Earnest said. This turned out to be the sea lion’s first attempt at jumping into his boat. Ernest started the motor to leave and as the boat left, the sea lion jumped on him again. “It ran the boat to the point where we had to hang on to the gunwales, the water started pouring into the boat … I was just hoping we wouldn’t capsize completely.” Viesia was flattened on the bottom of the boat. Ernest was up to his waist in water inside the boat. The event was so dramatic and it all happened so quickly that Ernest is not sure if the sea lion actually landed in the boat. He thinks he can have it for a few seconds. “The whole thing is just unbelievable,” he said. When the Godeks saw the sea lion up close, “you know how big and fast and strong nature can be. You just don’t get it normally. When there’s contact, then it’s like, ‘Wow these things are huge.’ “ “We were both scared,” he said. The large adult male sea lion nearly capsized the boat, said Mark Malleson, senior guide with Prince of Whales, who was taking a group on a whale-watching trip. He watched the event and followed Godek’s ship afterwards to make sure he was okay. Three Bigg’s killer whales, also known as transients, were eating a harbor seal and moving away from Pedder Bay. Malleson saw Godek’s boat and spotted the sea lion. “It was quite busy. At one point, I yelled at them, “You’re going to want to get out of there.” The sea lion was trying to find shelter in their boat.” The whales were not chasing the sea lion, which “misconstrued the situation,” Malleson said. But he probably heard them yelling, spotted them and panicked, he said. “He has probably crossed paths with killer whales before and seen his friends being eaten. It was his instinct to get out of the water.” When Godek’s boat moved on, the sea lion chased after it, porpoises in the water for a while, Malleson said. In the end the sea lion was fine. The killer whales went elsewhere. Andrew Trites, professor and director of the marine mammal research unit at the University of BC, said sea lions “have no problem launching themselves out of the water. Jumping into a moving boat as a means of escape — I’ve never seen anything like that before, it’s just remarkable.” Killer whales will target California sea lions and Steller sea lions. Harbor seals are the preferred prey of transients, he said. “It’s just delicious and full of fat.” If a seal is brave, it may try to climb onto the back of a boat to avoid killer whales, but they are often too scared to do so. But sea lions don’t have much fear of humans, Trites said. [email protected]
