Well, first let's have a brief look at how Easter is significant to us. According to a synopsis in the UK's online paper, The Independent, some general facts about Easter and why we celebrate it include:
- Easter is oldest and most important Christian festival marking the death (Good Friday) and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Today! Easter Sunday)
- Many customs associated with this time of the year are derived from combination of Jewish lore, pre-Christian and pagan practices
- Named after Eostre, the goddess of fertility and birth, and worshipped by first-century pagans...they believed she blessed both their families and crops
- Falls on the first Sunday after the Full Moon that occurs on or after the spring Equinox (March 21)
- Some symbols of Easter...the Lamb, Rabbits and Eggs
- The lamb is associated because Christ became known as the "lamb of God". As well the older idea of the "sacrificial lamb" came from the fact that doors of Israelites were marked with the blood of a lamb to prevent the Angel of Death from "passing over" and killing their first born
- Eggs are associated with Easter because they are ancient symbols of fertility and have also been associated with the rebirth or resurrection of Christ
- And where did the Easter bunny come from? The hare which is another ancient, pre-Christian symbol of fertility associated with spring. AND in Anglo-Saxon mythology Eostara changed her pet bird into a rabbit to entertain a group of children and the it retained the ability to lay brightly coloured eggs for the children!
So what about marine mammals of the Salish Sea and Easter? The Pagan goddess Eostre, the goddess of fertility and birth, appears to have a role to play in the lives of many marine mammals at this time.
Here's what the marine mammals inhabiting the Salish Sea are up to as the goddess of fertility and the Easter bunny visit us:
Killer whale (Orcinus orca)
At this is the time of year the Southern Resident 'fish eating' Killer Whales begin spending more time foraging in the waters of the Salish Sea. In spring the main prey of these whales, the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), start returning to their natal streams (Fisheries and Oceans Canada Chinook) in preparation for spawning. By May or June all three pods are in these waters foraging and socializing...and socializing means breeding! Killer whales travel in extensive matriarchal families so don't breed when one pod is together but once pods join together this activity happens. So Easter is the start of increased killer whale social and breeding activity!
Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)
The goddess of fertility visits the gray whales a little earlier than other species of marine mammals. In the spring Gray whales are just arriving to their northern feeding grounds after spending the winter months, from late December to late March, mating and calving in the warmer waters of the lagoons of Baja California Sur, Mexico. After a winter of fasting they must return to the productive waters of Washington and British Columbia up to Alaska to bottom feed on amphipods and tube worms or mysid shrimp in the water column.
Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
There is not a lot of evidence to show that minke whales have the same strong north-south migration that other baleen whale have but they still tend to be found in southern latitudes in the winter and northern latitudes in the summer. Easter for the minke whale is likely to be a time of movement into increasingly productive northern feeding areas. In the Salish sea sightings of minke whales start to increase during the spring (or are we just looking more?). This is especially true in the shallow bank areas where there is upwelling and good productivity. In known feeding areas of the Salish Sea, such as Hein Bank in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, congregations of more than 5 foraging minke whales can be seen!
Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
As with the Gray whale, Easter is a time when the humpback whales are returning to the rich northern feeding areas from Vancouver Island to Alaska. Until only a few years ago the humpback whales were a fairly rare sight in the inland waters of the Salish Sea. In the recent years sightings of this species has been increasing...initially sightings were increasing during the fall and now they are starting as soon as spring!
Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)
During Easters Dall's porpoise are not yet breeding which occurs during the summer months. Groups of Dall`s seen this time of year are feeding on a variety of prey in deeper waters of the Salish Sea including squid, other small schooling fish (herring and capelin), and the fish inhabiting the deep channel waters of the area (hake and smelt). These guys eat up to 28 - 30 pounds of food per day and do most of their foraging at night. The males would also be checking out the females; they find a single female to escort and breed with during the summer. The following summer, after a year long gestation period, a new Dall's porpoise calf is born!
Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
The harbour porpoise is the smallest cetacean in the NE Pacific (5 - 6 ft, ~2 m) and, like their cousins the Dall's porpoise, increased productivity of the waters of the Salish Sea around Easter provides food. This little species feeds on non-spiny fishes such as herring, cod, whiting, squid and pollock. Breeding in this species tends to occur in late summer. Male harbour porpoise are different from the Dall's porpoise males...they have the largest testes-to-body-size ratio which relates to their strategy of mating with as many females as possible rather than choosing to escort a single female!
Stellar sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) 
Although Stellar sea lions can be seen in the Salish Sea around Easter the majority of the males that congregate here in the winter have started their migration to the breeding rookeries of northern BC to Alaska. By May, mature males stake out and defend territories in these rookeries for up to 60 days. Females arrive later than the males, give birth to their pups which they will nurse for 1-3 years, and mating will occur in June and July.
California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)
Like the Stellar sea lion, California sea lion males spend the winter hauled out in areas of the Salish Sea, such as Race Rocks Marine Protected Area. Unlike the Stellar sea lions, who travel north to breed, these sea lions travel south to the breeding colonies off California and Mexico. These sea lions will ferociously defend harems of up to 40 females. All sea lions have the ability to delay implantation meaning the female won't actually get pregnant until up to three months after breeding and the gestation period is 9 months.
Northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris)
Starting in December, northern elephant seals breed in the south in waters off California and Mexico. The pups are born just prior to breeding and then a female is ready to mate 24 days after the pup is born! By mid-March most adults have left the breeding colonies with the pups being weaned quite abruptly by desertion. By Easter the pups have been weaned, have started to swim and head to sea going northwest to feed in areas, such as the Salish Sea, off the coast of northern Washington and Vancouver Island. These young animals don`t usually appear on land again until September...they live off the fat reserves they packed on during the short nursing 4 week nursing period!
Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) 
Harbour seals are non-migratory displaying only some local feeding and breeding movments. During early spring and Easter harbour seals are likely spending most of their time foraging because they tend to breed and have their pups during the summer months of July and August. Studies have indicated that harbour seals feed on a variety of small fish around rocky reefs including sculpins, small flatfishes and rockfishes, greenlings, smelts and perches. Happy Easter dining harbour seals!!
