Video captures extraordinary moment elephant seal gives birth on B.C. island

A video posted online by a wilderness guide and photographer captures the extraordinary moment a Northern elephant seal gives birth.

Derek Sterling, a Pearson College UWC Ecoguardian, is currently living on Great Race Rock in the Juan de Fuca off Vancouver Island and he caught the moment from the doorway of the Ecoguardian home.

He said that long lenses are used to minimize any disturbance to the flora and fauna on the reserve.

The video shows an elephant seal on the ground, moving around and then giving birth. The baby starts moving almost immediately and it appears that mama seal has to make sure a nearby onlooker does not get too close to her new offspring.

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According to Pearson College, the Race Rocks group of small islands is sometimes called the Galapagos of the North due to its unique high tidal current area that attracts a rich variety of marine life including marine mammals, sea birds, fish, marine invertebrates, marine algae and sea grass.

It is also a common location for sea lions to rest or breed and is also a popular birthing spot for harbour seals.

In addition, it is the most northerly birthing colony on the Pacific Coast of North America for the Northern elephant seal.

Since 1997, Pearson College UWC took over management of the historic, now-automated Canadian Coast Guard lighthouse on the main island which was first inhabited in the 1860s, according to the college.