Your contribution is greatly appreciated, thank you for participating!

“Pinniped” is a Latin word meaning “fin-footed,” and includes marine mammals with front and hind flippers such as seals and sea lions.

Harbour seals and sea lions (pinnipeds) are known to feed on salmon in the Courtenay River near Kus-kus-sum. Seal hunting activity is common and well documented, while sea lions are seen far less often and their role here is not as well understood. Anecdotal evidence suggests that seals may have used the former steel wall at Kus-kus-sum to herd and catch salmon, potentially increasing predation pressure within this important salmon migration corridor.

The goal of this monitoring program is to better understand how the Kus-kus-sum restoration project affects pinniped use of the area and potential predation on migrating salmon. Tracking these patterns over time will help us understand whether restoration is associated with changes in pinniped presence, behaviour, and overall activity in the river.

Note: monitoring shifts are only visible to registered Pinniped Monitors. You’ll need to be logged in to your Civic Champs account to view and sign up for shifts.

Be sure that both you and your teammate sign up to help us accurately track volunteer hours. 

If your teammate did not attend training: 

• • Send them the sign-up link and notify Casey (Casey.Doucet@projectwatershed.ca) to add them to the Pinniped Monitor list. Once added, they will be able to view and sign up for monitoring shifts. 

Helpful Resources

For questions or support, please contact Casey at Casey.Doucet@projectwatershed.ca.