Friend Feature: Sea Wolves — Junior SeaDoctors

Sea Wolves Canus lupus

by Layla Cahalan, Junior SeaDoctor and Salish Sea Hero, age 8

All photos used with generous permission by award-winning photographer and producer, Ian McAllister of Pacific Wild. Thank you Ian and Karen McAllister!

A coastal gray wolf in the intertidal of British Columbia, seen both below and above water. Maybe not what you’d expect from BC tidepool life! This photo of Ian’s was named one of the Tope 20 in National Geographic’s Photo of the Day features for 2015. He snapped it up close while in his SCUBA gear with an underwater camera. What does this perspective tell you about these wolves’ habitat?

Wild Island Canine

The Salish Sea is home to many creatures, like orcas, whales, dolphins, and fish. On land there are deer, bugs, and raccoons. But did you know that wolves live on the islands too? Coastal sea wolves are a subspecies of gray wolves. Sea wolves swim more than gray wolves and they are also 20% smaller. Their coats are less dense since they live in a warmer marine climate than the gray wolves that live inland. The color of their coat ranges from black, white, and brownish red.

Sea wolves learned for thousands of generations how to catch salmon, as evidenced by their 30% catch success rate, a high percentage for predators! What is your fishing catch percentage?

Super Swimmers

Sea wolves live on different islands in the Salish Sea. Sometimes they need to travel to other islands to find food. There are ferry boats for people that live on islands, but none for wolves. Sea wolves have evolved to become SUPER SWIMMERS! They can swim for miles at a time. The longest recorded swim by a wolf was 7 ½ miles! Wolf parents sign their pups up for swim lessons when they are 4 months old. Forget swimming with dolphins, I want to swim with a wolf pup!

Salish Shore Feast

Sea wolves come in many colors, like this dark and light gray and brown wolf about to munch a fat salmon. Their fur is also shorter than inland wolves. Why do you suppose this is true?

Much like humans, sea wolves can eat a lot of different things. Since they live on an island they have to adapt and be able to eat a lot of different kinds of food around them. Sea wolves have been known to eat otters, berries, salmon, seals, clams, mussels, deer, and if they’re lucky a whale carcass that has washed ashore. Their jaws are two times stronger than a domesticated dog. They can even crunch through a clam shell or a deer’s leg. These foraging feasters make sure to share at every meal.

Precious Pups

Caring and protective are two words that describe these pack-minded creatures. Sea wolves depend on the other members of the pack to survive, but there is one season that all the wolves care about the most. Pup season! During pup season, wolf pups need the right den to survive when they are young. Usually, dens are dug under a large tree and it can be surrounded by bushes. Sometimes there are networks of tunnels that lead to other dens.

Pups on the lookout for danger from a surprise visit by a wildlife photographer. Pups are often left with an older sibling, aunt, or uncle to babysit while their alpha wolf parents hunt.

Dens are used for many generations, and some dens can be 100 years old. While mom stays in the den for three weeks with her 4-5 newborn pups, the other pack members hunt for food that they bring to the mom. The pack members are also really good at playing the quiet game during pup season. They don’t howl at all, because if they did it would attract predators to the den. At about two months the pups are ready to explore and there is no stopping them. As the pups learn to eat food, the pack members make sure to share the most tender meat with them.

Best Buds

Coastal wolves and ravens work in cahoots. Ravens lead wolves to fresh carcasses of animals so the wolf can tear into the meat, opening easy access for their smart, yet fangless, corvid friends. It pays to cooperate!

As you know humans can make best friends with animals, like dogs. So can wolves. Wolves have made a great bond with ravens. Ravens’ beaks aren’t strong enough to pry open a deer’s skin to get to the meat, but a wolf can. Ravens alert wolves about the dead animal and then lead them to the carcass. The wolf feasts first and then the raven enjoys the leftovers. They can be best friends. Sometimes the ravens will dive bomb the pups, which is funny, because they are playing. Sometimes ravens will stroll in front of them acting like a deer, but once the wolf pup pounces the raven will fly away. I would like to see that one day, I think it would be funny to watch a pup and a raven.

Rescue the Wolves

Some people have been killing wolves just for sport, and that is not the best thing to do. Wolves are a keystone species, that means if you take the wolf away everything gets out of balance. Some people might think it is impossible to live among the wolves. The First Nations people teach us that it is not impossible, because they have done it for thousands of years. They believe that wolves are intelligent and spiritual animals. We can learn from the First Nations that wolves are not bad creatures. Wolves are just like us, they can make mistakes, and they care about their family more than anything. They deserve respect. People respect a dog because they are cute, fluffy and make great family pets. Wolves aren’t pets, but they are smart, loyal to their pack, and important to the ecosystem. I have been learning about them for a couple of months and now I am obsessed with wolves.

A sea wolf rubs its face on slippery rockweed. Can you think of a reason?

We can help sea wolves

Here are some ways people can help the sea wolves. Stop trophy hunting. Politicians need to put rules in place for hunters. Stop making pollution, because it is leading to climate change. Climate change can affect their food, such as salmon. Protect their habitat by not drilling on or near the islands the wolves are living on. Give donations to different organizations that help the sea wolves such as Pacific Wild and Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Just like a pack of wolves work together to protect their pups, humans need to come together to protect the future of sea wolves.