A mysterious furry stranger, rarely seen in local waters, was recently spotted disturbing the peace for three California sea lions, hanging out on rocks west of Victoria.

Trying its best to blend in with the heavy weight pinnipeds of the Salish Sea was a northern fur seal, an animal normally found in the open North Pacific Ocean, where it spends around 90 per cent of their lives feeding and sleeping at sea.

But with its smaller stature, pinched face and "spectacular Fu Manchu whiskers," there was no fooling anybody.

A northern fur seal this close to Greater Victoria is a rare sighting, says Val Shore a senior naturalist with Eagle Wing Tours, who was one of the lucky people onboard the tour boat to witness the pinniped mixer.

香蕉视频直播淭his guy was sitting on the rocks along with three California sea lions, just relaxing,香蕉视频直播� she said. 香蕉视频直播淲e were all very excited to find him 香蕉视频直播� it was the big event of the day and when our guests saw how excited the crew were, they got excited too, it was really cool to see.香蕉视频直播�

For the most part, the sea lions chose to tolerate their uninvited guest, says Shore. 香蕉视频直播淚 only saw one interaction that was sort of a growl-snarl, which is pretty typical for California sea lions anyway, they don't like their space being invaded.香蕉视频直播�

Wanting to find out more, Shore shared images from the April 10 sighting with a pinniped researcher in the U.S., who was able to confirm the seal is a young adult male, weighing in at approximately 200 to 300 pounds.

香蕉视频直播淵ou can tell by the broad shoulders that it香蕉视频直播檚 a male,香蕉视频直播� said Shore. 香蕉视频直播淸The pinniped researcher] is extremely interested in this sighting, he said this is very unusual to see them here.香蕉视频直播�

The U.S. marine mammal expert also commented that the seal appears to look healthy. 香蕉视频直播淚t was alert, so it didn't look injured in any way that we could see, and it seemed to be behaving normally,香蕉视频直播� Shore said.

This is not the first time the Eagle Wings crew has spotted a northern fur seal in Victoria waters. One was seen in mid-October last year, in a similar area to the sighting this month, but Shore does not think the two animals are one and the same.

香蕉视频直播淭hat one was seen in the water, and they look a lot different when they're wet, so we could not really get a good idea of size at that time,香蕉视频直播� she says.

香蕉视频直播淚t's possible it's the same individual, but it seems unlikely.香蕉视频直播�

Despite the recent sightings, Shore does not believe it is a sign the northern fur seal is 香蕉视频直播渋nvading香蕉视频直播� the area.

香蕉视频直播淚 think this is just an outlier who poked into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and decided to haul out onto some rocks here,香蕉视频直播� she says, adding there might be one or two individuals in the strait at any given time or at certain times of the year.

香蕉视频直播淚 don't see this as a big shift in in their range, this guy is sort of on the edge of their typical range."

Once hunted in its thousands for their dense, luxurious pelt, the northern fur seal became a protected species in 1911 because of declining numbers.

香蕉视频直播淭his was one of the first international agreements protecting marine wildlife,香蕉视频直播� said Shore. 香蕉视频直播淚t prohibited pelagic sealing and ended the commercial hunting of fur seals in Canadian waters.香蕉视频直播�

Shore believes there is evidence suggesting northern fur seals did once inhabit the west coast of Vancouver Island, with bones found in First Nations archaeological sites, known as middens, offering a clue to the pinniped's past.

香蕉视频直播淨uite a few of the middens have a lot of northern fur seal bones, indicating that they were a vital food source for the Indigenous people of the time,香蕉视频直播� she says.

As the bones mostly belonged to female and young seals, Shore says this suggests there was a breeding colony somewhere along the coast.

香蕉视频直播淏ut no one knows where that was and why it disappeared,香蕉视频直播� she adds. 香蕉视频直播淪o the bottom line here is that this is part of their historical range, but it's certainly not that unusual for this animal historically.香蕉视频直播�

With a northern fur seal sighting ticked off her wish list for 2025, Shore is curious to see what else awaits her and the Eagle Wings crew at sea.

"You just never know what you might come across," she says. "We think that way every time we come out of the harbour, 'What are we going to see today?' And it's always a surprise of some sort."