In the department, we have conducted aerial surveys of pinniped populations since the 1970s. Currently, our estimate from 2019 for harbour seals is about 85,000 harbour seals in British Columbia. That's slightly down from the peak of over 100,000 in the early 2000s.
Similarly, we're seeing about 43,200 Steller's sea lions. That is an increase over 2013, but it has been relatively stable since 2017. There's an estimate of about 13,600 California sea lions, which, again, is an increase since the 2009 survey but not a significant increase since 2017.