Marine wildlife such as jellyfish, dolphins, salmon, seals and orca in British Columbia’s Howe Sound may be heading into winter sustained by the vast number of anchovies that were spotted in the region last summer.

“These are phenomenal numbers,” Jeff Marliave, vice-president of marine science at the Vancouver Aquarium told the Vancouver Sun in August. “It sounds like they are super abundant.”

Marliave told the Sun that the abundance of the tiny fish was likely a result of a warm El Niño year and good news for species such as dolphins and squid, which eat them.

Dave Korsch, a West Vancouver fishing guide, told the North Shore News that he’d seen salmon feeding on the anchovies throughout the Strait of Georgia. “I’ve never, ever in my 30 years seen anchovies in the area like this,” he said, adding that coho salmon had been noticeably plumper this season. “This is the first year I can ever actually recall seeing anchovies in the belly of fish,” he said.