Whiskers in the Wild: Surfing Sea Lions, Human Disturbance, and Harbor Dredging
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Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard, California // November 15th, 2025
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Locations
📍 Channel View Park — 29 Ocean Dr, Oxnard, CA 93035
Small park at the harbor entrance, just steps from Hollywood Beach. Sea lions often gather on the rocks and in the water - listen for their signature “arf”! No restrooms at the park, but facilities are available elsewhere in the harbor. Limited street and lot parking.
📍 Bench Viewpoint (Near Salt + Noelle’s Dockside Studio) — 3141 Victoria Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93035
Public bench along the harbor walking path. Offers a clear view of occasional sea lions and local bird activity. Essentially the Salt + Noelle view, without being on our patio. Restroom on-site. Large parking lot available; parking fees unknown.
📍 Kiddie Beach Park — 2721 Victoria Ave, Oxnard, CA 93035
Calm, protected cove inside Channel Islands Harbor. Great for families and swimming. Lifeguard on duty in summer. Showers, restrooms, and free parking on-site. Check water advisories after storms. Recently a major sea lion haul-out - maintain a safe distance and follow posted restrictions.
📍 Hobie Beach — 2974-3098 Victoria Ave, Oxnard, CA 93035
Designated launch site for kayaks, SUPs, and small sailboats. Calm harbor water, easy marina access. Free parking in adjacent lot. Restrooms & showers nearby at Kiddie Beach.
📍 Silver Strand Beach — 2525 Ocean Dr, Oxnard, CA 93035
Stretch of beach near harbor mouth, featuring rocky jetty haul-outs popular with sea lions. Parking and restrooms available at nearby beach access points.
Life for Sea Lions in a Working Harbor
This Whiskers in the Wild update drops into a noisy few weeks at Channel Islands Harbor. King tides, active dredging, shifting sea lion haul‑outs, new “neighbors” on the dock and a string of wildlife sightings have all been layered into the same small stretch of water.
At the center is a new 4K video from Silver Strand: press play, watch sea lions surf and rest, and listen to the ocean. Alongside it, I’m sharing a gallery and some field notes on how the colony is using the harbor during dredging and what happens when people step a little too far into their space.
From left to right: A working dredge, sea lions sprawled across a resting pipeline, a weathered hazard marker floating just outside the harbor.
Dredging and a Moving Sea Lion Colony
Channel Islands Harbor is in an active dredging period. That means a working dredge, long pipes, and other temporary structures staged in and around the harbor entrance. The project is part of the harbor’s routine maintenance cycle, which typically happens about every two years to keep the entrance safe for boats and to move sand downcoast. Sand that builds up in the channel is pumped south to help rebuild eroding beaches, so the work is doing double duty - maintaining navigation while feeding nearby shorelines. The operation runs on a near‑continuous schedule. From my vantage point, it’s noticeably changed the behavior and movement of wildlife in the area, and I’ve been watching how the local sea lions use the harbor differently while all of this is in place.
Over the last few weeks, many of the animals that used to haul out on familiar harbor structures have shifted. Most are now spending more time at Silver Strand Beach or resting directly on the dredge pipes themselves, turning industrial hardware into new haul‑out spots.
It’s been interesting to watch that behavior change in real time. The dredge and the worn hazard marker are reminders that this is a working harbor, not a backdrop. The sea lions are constantly adapting to what we put in the water, and we’re constantly giving them new things to navigate.
From left to right: a close human approach on the beach, the haul-out before any disturbance, and a surfer moving toward a sea lion at close range.
Human Disturbance: When “Just One Photo” Is Too Close
This week also brought a familiar pattern: people getting too close to wildlife.
On the beach, one person walked right up to the edge of the sea lion haul‑out to take photos. Before she approached, the group was stacked together and relatively relaxed (above, center frame). As she moved closer, heads came up, bodies shifted, and many of the sea lions began moving and rushing toward the water. In just a few moments, their focus shifted from resting to reacting to her presence.
Out in the water, a surfer cut toward a sea lion at close range instead of giving it space. The colony was split between the beach and a raft of animals riding the waves offshore. His line pushed them toward the jetty, and it felt intentional in a way that was especially frustrating to watch.
Faces in these images are blurred here, but I do retain unblurred versions for authorities if they’re ever needed. I’m not sharing this to shame individuals; I’m sharing it because this is what everyday human disturbance looks like in a place like Channel Islands Harbor. Most people don’t realize how quickly their presence can change behavior - or how stressful that can be for the animals.
For anyone spending time around sea lions or other marine wildlife, a few simple guidelines go a long way:
If an animal changes what it’s doing because of you, you’re too close.
Use a telephoto lens or binoculars.
Do not feed wildlife.
When in doubt, give them more space than you think they need.
The woman on the beach had a telephoto lens and should have known better, but her behavior felt more like a lack of education than malice. The surfer’s choices felt different, more deliberate. Both situations are reminders of why clear guidelines and public education around wildlife viewing matter.
From left to right: house finches moving through the jetty rocks, a bat star in a shallow pocket of the tide zone, and a great egret surveying the area.
Wildlife Sightings Around the Harbor
Sea lions may be the headliners, but they’re not the only ones sharing this space.
House finches have been moving through the jetty rocks, working the small cracks and ledges most people step past without noticing. In the tide zone, I watched a bat star feeding in a shallow pocket - a slow, steady process that rewards anyone willing to sit still for a while.
A great egret has been making regular appearances, watching the water with the kind of focus that makes you slow down too. All of these smaller sightings are part of the same bigger picture: Channel Islands Harbor as both a working port and a busy wildlife corridor.
I’ve been logging many of these sightings on iNaturalist; if you’re on there too, you’re welcome to follow along.
Behind the Scenes: Wind, King Tides, and an “iPhone” in the Water
A few human notes from this week: shooting the dredging scenes was tough.
I was up on the rocks with a teleconverter on the 200–600mm, locked at the long end on my monopod. The wind was ripping, the king tides had the waves stacked, and keeping video even remotely steady was almost impossible. Most of that footage will stay in the archive as a reminder that not every outing produces clean results.
At one point, I saw what looked like someone’s phone floating near shore. It was close enough that I started thinking about what might be on it, possibly someone’s precious memories. I had Michael hold my camera and jumped in after it… only to realize it was an iPhone‑shaped plank of wood.
The stills from that session turned out great and you’ll see them in the gallery below. I just didn’t use any video from that particular day - the footage in this post comes from a calmer session later in the week.
Two Entanglements in One Week
This week also brought two separate entanglement cases.
The first was earlier in the week, unrelated to the new video. The second appears in the Silver Strand footage below - a sea lion that looks lively and active, but on review shows clear signs of entanglement. In the video he zips across the frame multiple times, and the distance made it hard to spot the problem in real time.
❣️ In both cases, I reported what I saw to the appropriate marine mammal rescue contacts. If you ever see a sea lion or any wild animal in distress (entangled, injured, or acting unusually) please contact your local wildlife rescue or marine mammal organization as soon as possible.
To watch in 4K, first press play. Then click the gear icon in the player and select the highest quality option.
The Video: Relax with Surfing Sea Lions
This video was filmed at Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard. The goal is simple: give you a chance to sit with the colony and unwind.
You’ll see synchronized flipper scratches, body surfing, and porpoising through the waves - all captured in 4K with a telephoto lens. I use the same Admire from Afar approach here as always: telephoto gear, careful cropping, and strict adherence to wildlife viewing guidelines so the animals stay undisturbed and unaware of my presence. All footage in this video is 100% authentic - no AI, no animals in captivity, no staged moments.
Dockside Neighbors and What’s Next
This week also brought something a little different: our refreshed Salt + Noelle brand kit finally landed. It’s the same core idea, ethical coastal storytelling with the seashell‑in‑a‑snowglobe theme, now wrapped in a more refined, consistent look across the site and socials, thanks to Wild & Folk Designs. We’re still putting the finishing touches on the new Admire from Afar branding, which I’ll share once it’s ready.
We also had to reschedule a big bucket‑list trip: Captain Ryan from Pacific Offshore Expeditions is still taking me out to Point Bennett at San Miguel Island, but weather pushed our original date. Our next attempt is set for my birthday in early December, and I’m already counting down the days. If conditions cooperate, I’m hoping to come back with some incredible pinniped and orca content.
Coming soon:
Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery photos (this gallery is almost done!)
San Miguel Island (Cuyler Harbor) trip images from my Island Packers outing
Point Bennett, San Miguel Island trip images after the rescheduled Pacific Offshore Expeditions run
More regular posts on social (things have been busy with partnerships and the brand refresh, but I’m working on it)
Additional Whiskers in the Wild updates as the season unfolds
To keep exploring, you can browse other recent stories on the blog or head to the Whiskers in the Wild hub to browse past sea lion posts and videos.
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