Sea Lion Beach, Hanson Island Live Cam

Sea Lion Beach on Hanson Island in British Columbia is a rocky shore where Steller sea lions haul out beside Blackney Passage. In the close view a smooth rock shelf slopes into a kelp-strewn channel, with a steep forested shore rising across the water.

Hanson Island lies off northern Vancouver Island, between Johnstone Strait and Blackfish Sound. Steller sea lions, the largest sea lions in the world, start gathering here in mid-September, and many spend the winter in the waters north of the island. A land-based orca research station founded in 1970 works nearby.

The view changes: some days it frames the rock shelf, kelp beds and a small islet where gulls perch, and on others a wide panorama of open water and a low wooded island. The camera can also zoom in on sea lions resting on the ledges, which the tide covers and uncovers during the day.