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<TITLE>Re: [CINC] CX 05/03/08</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Verdana"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>Well I Googled “</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Lucida Grande"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:13.0px'>branded sea lions” and this is what I got from The Marine Mammal Center located in in Northern CA.<BR>
They are answering questions about why California sea lions have chosen to haul out at PIER 39's and other behaviors, etc. <BR>
Below in question #26, 27 and 28 deal with branding. Question #4 and 5 might be the answer to why we see them here.<BR>
Below the </SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT FACE="Verdana"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>following questions are a couple of more links dealing with pinniped branding.<BR>
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Here’s the link where I got the info...<BR>
<a href="http://www.tmmc.org/learning/education/pier39/faqs.asp">http://www.tmmc.org/learning/education/pier39/faqs.asp</a><BR>
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Here is the link to </SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Lucida Grande"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:13.0px'>The Marine Mammal Center website<BR>
<a href="http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/">http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/</a><BR>
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Hope this helps.<BR>
Staci<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Lucida Grande"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:13.0px'>26. Why are sea lions branded?<BR>
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.<BR>
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27. How are they branded?<BR>
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.<BR>
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28. Do these procedures hurt them?<BR>
It’s 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. <BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Lucida Grande"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:13.0px'>4. Do the sea lions stay here all year?<BR>
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.<BR>
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5. How far away are the Channel Islands, and how long does it take the sea lions to get there?<BR>
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. <BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Lucida Grande"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:13.0px'>Judge Halts Hot Branding of Stellar Sea Lions<BR>
May 31, 2006 ... The research at issue involved the annual capture and hot branding of 3000 Steller sea lions. <BR>
After branding, the sea lions were subjected ...<BR>
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2006/2006-05-31-05.asp <BR>
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Hot branding: A technique for long-term marking of pinnipeds<BR>
Hot branding provides a marking technique which meets these criteria. Using hot branding equipment and techniques developed for studies of Steller sea lions ...<BR>
www.afsc.noaa.gov/techmemos/nmfs-afsc-68.htm <BR>
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On 5/5/08 10:59 AM, "Mr Zalophus" <mr.zalophus@gmail.com> wrote:<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Verdana"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>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?<BR>
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Bob Perry<BR>
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Photos of sea lion acres and "branded" individuals are posted on my website:<BR>
<a href="http://www.MarineBioPhotography.com">http://www.MarineBioPhotography.com</a><BR>
Under the section for the Condor Express, 2008 05-03 trip.<BR>
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On 5/3/08, <B>Sally Eagle</B> <sally.eagle@cox.net> wrote: <BR>
</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>Condor Express<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>Saturday, 05/03/08<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>3 trips: 900, 1200, 1500<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>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.<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>Most activity in the 34° 17.20 119° 41.27 vicinity, all day<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>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.<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>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.<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>For humpback tricks today John Kuizenga and I tallied:<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>1 double (duo) breach<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>2 single (solo) breaches<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>1 spy hop<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>4 pec slaps<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>5 tail throws<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>Flukes too numerous to count<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>Lots of trumpeting<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>And, yes, the multitudes of sea lions did their versions of all of the above.<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>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.<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'>As ever, a wonderful day………..on one of the last trips of <I>the gray whale season.<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE="5"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:18.0px'><I>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.<BR>
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