• aug_26_arcata_marsh_klopp_lake_sea_lion.ml_2380
    After the initial discovery on the morning of Aug. 26 of the California sea lion swimming in Klopp Lake, I returned to Klopp Lake after lunch to try to get better photos and found the sea lion again swimming next to the shoreline in the southeast corner of the lake. With the sun at my back and a telephoto lens, I was able to create these portraits … and discover branded numbers on the sea lion’s back that helped begin research into the sea lion’s origins and travels elsewhere where it had been sighted.
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    The sea lion swimming in Klopp Lake on Aug. 26.
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    The sea lion in Klopp Lake on Aug. 26.
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    The California sea lion swims in Klopp Lake.
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    The California sea lion swimming Klopp Lake provided an unprecedented sighting locally.
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    It was later discovered the California sea lion swimming in Klopp Lake had traveled as far north as British Columbia.
  • aug_27_arcata_marsh_sea_lion_klopp_lake.ml_2432
    On my morning visit to Klopp Lake on Tuesday, the California sea lion was actively swimming in the water along the south shoreline where I photographed it first and then watched it swim out to the west island, which it swam around twice. I photographed it at a distance emerging from the water next to a log on that island.
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    The California sea lion swimming in Klopp Lake Aug. 27.
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    The California sea lion emerges from the water of Klopp Lake next to a log, giving a measure of its length and size.
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    Due to the normal heavy foot traffic on the Klopp Lake trail and having heard reports that the sea lion was going back and forth from Klopp Lake to Humboldt Bay, this caution sign was posted on Aug. 27 by Northcoast Marine Mammal Center staff to encourage walkers and their leashed dogs to give the sea lion plenty of space.
  • aug_28_sea_lion_in_klopp_lake.ml_2756.webp
    My favorite portrait of the California sea lion: I returned to Klopp Lake in late afternoon on Wednesday after not seeing it on my walk there in the morning and discovered the sea lion passively resting in the water along the south shoreline. The warm sunlight on its head and shadows on the water around it created a strong photograph. Many observers, including myself, were beginning to worry about the sea lion’s health by this time, given its physical appearance and passive atypical behavior.
  • aug_29_sea_lion_at_klopp_lake_arcata_marsh.ml_2836
    On Thursday morning I found the California sea lion again in the southwest corner of Klopp Lake and it was more active than what I seen the night before … but still just staying in one location in shallow water along the shoreline. Its repeated belly rolls every 15 minutes gave me an opportunity to photograph it more thoroughly and I was excited to discover an ID tag attached to one of its flippers. It read “OFW” and a telephone number, and this helped (along with the numbers on its back) Stranding Program staffers identify the sea lion’s origins and backstory of its travels.
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    The California sea lion swims in the southwest corner of Klopp Lake on Aug. 29.
  • aug._25_arcata_marsh_humboldt_bay_sea_lion.ml_1804
    I first observed on Sunday morning, Aug. 25 what I thought was a “dead” stranded California sea lion laying in the mud flats of Humboldt Bay just offshore from Klopp Lake in the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. I then reported my observation to Cal Poly Humboldt professor Dawn Goley, who heads the university’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program (MMSP), which began the week-long study of the very much alive sea lion. On Saturday morning, Aug. 31, however, I found the dead sea lion floating in the southeast corner of Klopp Lake. The city of Arcata has decided to leave its corpse there and let nature and decomposition take its course.
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    A highly cropped and enlarged photo of the California sea lion’s flipper, where I observed an attached ID tag on it on Aug. 29. It read “OFW” and a telephone number that helped researchers find the animal’s backstory.