Sea Lion Beach
A rocky British Columbia haul-out where sea lions pile up, argue and fall asleep on each other.
About this view
A rocky beach on Hanson Island, off the north-east coast of Vancouver Island, that sea lions use as a haul-out — the place they come ashore to rest between fishing trips. The camera looks along the rocks at water level, close enough to hear the argument.
Sea lions haul out in heaps and treat each other as terrain. The routine is a slow churn of animals climbing over sleeping neighbours to reach a better rock, a short roar, and then everyone settling again. Bald eagles work the shoreline above them, and the tide steadily changes how much beach there is to fight over.
British Columbia runs on Pacific Time, UTC−8 and UTC−7 in summer. Numbers build through autumn and winter, when Steller and California sea lions gather in the strait for the herring; summer is quieter. Low tide gives the most beach, and the most animals on it.
Nearby cams
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the Sea Lion Beach live cam located?
- The camera looks over Hanson Island, British Columbia, in Canada. Its position is 50.573°N, 126.746°W, which you can open on our world map.
- What time is it at the Sea Lion Beach camera?
- Hanson Island, British Columbia runs on UTC−7, and the live clock at the top of this page shows the current local time and whether it is day or night there. It is worth checking before you watch: this view changes completely between the middle of the night and the busiest hours of the day.
- Are there other live cams near Hanson Island, British Columbia?
- Yes — the closest ones are OrcaLab Whale Lookout, Sea Otter Cam, Vancouver and Vancouver Harbour & Canada Place. They are listed under "Nearby cams" further down this page, and every camera we carry is plotted on the world map.
- Is this stream really live?
- Yes. This is a real 24/7 live feed broadcast by explore.org, played through the official YouTube player — free, no account needed. Every stream in our catalogue is checked automatically before each update to confirm it is still live and watchable.
