I've seen a fair amount of wildlife on and around Gabriola this spring. Here's brief recap:


-En route from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay in April, the ferry captain alerted the ship to a large school of dolphins travelling in a southeasterly direction, heading south down the Georgia Straight. They passed right in front of the ship.

-It's not unusual to see otters scurrying around the beach and swimming in the water off the shore during springtime. I've seen them in different places on a few occasions this year. Down at Orlebar Point, where Entrance Island lies, I actually saw a pair of otters playing/wrestling with each other in a tidepool. These are river otters, by the way, not sea otters. The latter don't come on land much, whearas the former can be found near (and in) the ocean, as well as rivers. You can tell them apart by their longer tails.

-There are deer all over the place. More than usual, it seems. On a spin around the island last weekend I spotted seven, including a mother and two fawns.

-Raccoons are not really unusual, but I never seem to see any. This year I've spotted a couple. One scurrying on a rocky, somewhat remote portion of shoreline, and then one in my own front 'yard.' Apparently Raccoons eat mice, which is good, because I'm waging a running battle with the little bastards (mice that is, not raccoons).

-There are a lot of eagles. I saw one swoop down from the treetops to have a go at what I assume was a fish, down near Drumbeg park, which is just opposite Valdez Island.

-Seals are quite common. If you're walking along any piece of coastline where there's a steepish dropoff into the water, you often see their heads pop out of the sea, catching a breath between fishing,

Entrance Island, and the area around it, is a veritable Grand Central Station of sea lions and seals. You often hear sea lions barking away out on the island, which is home to a lighthouse. I don't know how the lighthouse keepers stand it (though frankly I'd rather put up with several dozen barking sea lions than your average ferry lineup conversation).

There is another small island along the coast from Entrance--let's call it 'Willingdon Island'. It's a little closer to the shore than Entrance Island. I had my binoculars with me last weekend, and I saw a few dozen seals out on Willingdon Island. They were all lazing around until a pair of huge eagles swooped down and took a poke at one of the seals. Most of other seals paddled off into the ocean.

I noticed that the object of the Eagles' attention was a smaller seal, perhaps a baby. It appeared to be injured or sick; it could barely move, and didn't seem to react to the eagles.

The little seal made its way into a shallow ledge of water just of the island. One of the eagles flew down from a perch on a jutting ten foot-high outcrop of sandstone, reached into the water and grabbed hold of the seal just offshore. Then, huge wingspan flapping, it lifted the plump, soaking little mammal up onto the beach, kind of like that magnet-equipped helicopter that hoisted the bad guys' car in the Bond flick 'You Only Live Twice.'

Having deposited the forlorn little sea pup back on the sandstone, the eagles resumed their watch, just letting the seal lie there. At one point, the seal made it's way agonizingly back into the water a short ways, but didn't go anywhere. In its condition, I suppose it risked drowning. It then strugged back onto the shore, where the eagles just kept watching, occasionally dropping beside it and jabbing at it with their beaks.

I watched this for about 40 minutes, but figured it could go on for hours; the eagles were likely more patient than me. Plus a downpour came along, and I had no raingear.

I went back the next morning and trained the binoculars on the same spot. The tide was a bit higher, and there was no sign of the seal. The eagles, though, were still there (I assume they were the same ones). Sitting beside them on the same ridge of sandstone was a big vulture.

Still on the subject of hockey, I caught a bit of the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup 'parade' on the news. If I sat in the back of a pickup while someone drove me around a deserted street at 4am I'd get a bigger turnout.

Maybe this lack of interest helps the team when the going's tough. No pressure, no one second guessing you. It seemed to work for Tampa a couple of years ago as well.

But really, now that the salary cap's in place, and given that Gary Bettman's vision of massive U.S. television interest in the game has proven to be a bust, isn't it time these sun belt franchises folded their tents and headed back up north to where someone actually gives a shit?

Some musings on the Stanley Cup Final...

I thought that the aftermath of game six was eerily reminiscent of 1994. The Oilers drawing even after being down 3-1 in the series reminded me of when the Canucks did the same against the Rangers.

The problem was, there was a little too much triumph in the air on the Edmonton side after game six. The same euphoric feeling was evident here in 1994. Drawing even was a great feat, but you’re still just even. Digging out of a hole just puts you at ground level. Maybe it’s natural to breathe a sigh of relief and pat yourself on the back at that point, but do you then loose that heightened sense of fear that helped you to stay alive and keep fighting? Indeed, does that hugely motivating fear factor transfer to the other team?

Then game seven. An early lead for the home team, just like 1994, followed by a dogged attempt to come back that fell just short. Fernando Pisani’s late chance was agonizingly simliar to Nathan Lafayette’s (remember him?) shot off the crossbar against the Rangers in the dying minutes of game seven in 1994.

The other thing that’s been on my mind is the way it’s taken as given that we’ve all been cheering for Edmonton.

I enjoyed their run; I like underdogs (though as a sports town, Edmonton is often a gushing well of hubris). But why must I necessarily cast my lot with them?

Because they’re the Canadian-based team?

Perhaps, but many of the Carolina players are also Canadian.

And if it were Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto or Vancouver in the final against an American-based team, would Albertans automatically rally behind them in the same way?

(Would Edmontonians cheer for Calgary's teams? I doubt it, and I doubt many Calgarians are too upset right now in return.)