Sea Lions

A federal agency recommended killing about 30 sea lions a year at a Columbia River dam where the marine animals feast on salmon migrating upriver to spawn. By many estimates, the sea lions devour about 4% of spring runs. Fishermen and Columbia River tribes have urged action for years against the sea lions at Bonneville Dam. Sea lions are attracted to the dam east of Portland because of the large number of fish that gather there to pass through the fish ladders.

A lost sea lion pup nicknamed Hoppie found at a Central Valley orchard about 100 miles from the ocean is recovering at a marine mammal center in Sausalito after its inland adventure. The confused animal was discovered last month at Mape's Ranch near Modesto, where workers contacted wildlife officials, the Fresno Bee reported. A volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito eventually coaxed the lost sea lion into a wire cage, where it promptly fell asleep, KTVU-TV reported.

Re "Battle With Sea Lions Turns Deadly," June 17: Jim Lecky, chief of the protected species division of National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest division, is quoted as saying sea lions "steal a lot of fish from fishermen." Au contraire! It is the fishermen who steal a lot of fish from the sea lions! After all, the sea is their domain. If the fishermen and their customers don't like it, let 'em eat cake! ZACHARY S. CHARLES Burbank If the fishing industry would stop killing off all the predators of the sea, e.g., sharks, they wouldn't have such a problem with the sea lion population explosion.

SAN DIEGO -- A lawsuit has been filed demanding the city eradicate the "foul, noxious and sickening odors" left by birds and sea lions defecating on the rocks next to La Jolla Cove. The stink offends the patrons of some of La Jolla's best known restaurants overlooking the cove and visitors to the famed La Valencia Hotel, according to the lawsuit filed by a group calling itself Citizens for Odor Nuisance Abatement. The group's president is George Hauer, owner of George's At The Cove, one of the city's premiere dining spots.

In March, a couple of plump, 900-pound California sea lions showed up at the Bonneville Dam, which spans the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon, 146 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Their mission: to gorge themselves on a feast of endangered chinook salmon laboring to get over the dam's fish ladder. The two had been caught before and branded as recidivist malefactors by wildlife officials, who have spent decades and billions of dollars trying to protect the salmon.

The sea lion was lying on a rock near the shore at Crissy Field, looking exhausted. A green fishing lure stuck out of its bottom lip, and a row of ribs showed when it breathed. It didn't put up a fight when two volunteers from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito approached it from behind and threw a net over its head. The volunteers nudged the sea lion into a dog kennel, carried it off the rocks and took it to Sausalito for treatment.

At least two sea lions that died from gunshot wounds have washed ashore in Malibu this month, wildlife rescuers said. Illegal shootings of sea lions occur each year in October when squid fishing season begins, Jonsie Ross at the California Wildfire Center  told CBS Los Angeles . The Malibu Times reported that two of the ocean mammals found on the coast had died of bullet wounds and that a third bore suspicious injuries. CBS Los Angeles said at least three sea lions had been killed by gunshots.

Ecuador is investigating the clubbing deaths of more than 50 Galapagos Islands sea lions found this month with cracked skulls, a state prosecutor said. The killings had to have been committed by humans, said prosecutor Jaime Estevez, who called them the work "of some people who enjoy watching these animals suffer."

SEATTLE--The bodies of about 20 sea lions have been discovered along the coasts of Oregon and Washington over the last two months, most of them shot to death. Who did it? No one knows, but there are a few guesses as to why - the playful but voracious creatures have long been blamed by fishermen and others for lunching on prized stocks of salmon and sturgeon, which swim along the Pacific Coast and up the Columbia River. “I can say that a significant number of sea lions appear to be targeted by people shooting them.

The captain of a commercial fishing vessel pleaded guilty Monday to killing a California sea lion off Long Beach. James Arthur Marshall, 34, of Westminster admitted in U.S. federal court that he shot the mammal aboard his boat, the "GW," on Jan. 28, 1993, Assistant U.S. Atty. Erica Martin said. Two undercover agents, one from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the other from the California Department of Fish and Game, videotaped the shooting while posing as tourists aboard the boat.

At least two sea lions that died from gunshot wounds have washed ashore in Malibu this month, wildlife rescuers said. Illegal shootings of sea lions occur each year in October when squid fishing season begins, Jonsie Ross at the California Wildfire Center  told CBS Los Angeles . The Malibu Times reported that two of the ocean mammals found on the coast had died of bullet wounds and that a third bore suspicious injuries. CBS Los Angeles said at least three sea lions had been killed by gunshots.

Four sea lions with evidence of gunshot wounds have been recovered from Malibu beaches in the last two months, wildlife rescuers said Thursday. The two such sea lions found this month had confirmed gunshot bodies, though it is unclear if they were shot before or after they died, said David Bard, director of the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, a hospital that treats the animals. Bullets were pulled from two of the four sea lions, and the other two had evidence of gunshot wounds, said Jonsie Ross, a marine mammal stranding coordinator at the California Wildlife Center.

Did former Rep. Gabby Giffords' stepdaughter do no wrong when her dog broke free from her in Laguna Beach and killed a baby sea lion? Was she so in the wrong that this should become a (literal) federal case? The 18-year-old had the American bulldog mix on a leash, as the law requires, while she walked him on the  beach. But when the dog saw the baby sea lion, he managed to pull the leash out of her hands. He then attacked the seal, and by the time the dog could be pulled off - by former astronaut Mark Kelly, Gifford's husband and the young woman's father - it already had inflicted fatal wounds.

Sea lion pups have been washing up on Southern California beaches at an alarming rate and the situation has become serious enough for officials to declare an "unusual mortality event. " The severely underweight pups, some clinging to life, have been found stranded on beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego at rates exponentially higher than in years past. In Los Angeles County, nearly 400 pups have been stranded since the beginning of the year. Last year, 36 were reported during that stretch.

Sea lions can't sing along to music, but they might just dance to the beat. Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have trained Ronan the California sea lion to bob along to a variety of musical genres, making her the first mammal (besides humans) to respond to rhythm. The findings, described in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, may help shed light on the origins of the brain's ability to sync sound and movement.    Other animals have been shown to get their boogie on, but they're typically birds like cockatoos and parrots, well versed in vocal mimicry.

Federal marine wildlife officials said that a mass stranding of malnourished sea lion pups along the Southern California coast since January has intensified in recent weeks and researchers remain unsure of the cause. Officials declared an "unusual mortality event" for the California sea lion, a designation that prompts immediate federal response after a significant die-off of a marine mammal population. The declaration comes as sea lion pups have been found stranded on Southern California beaches -- from Santa Barbara to San Diego --  at rates exponentially higher than in years past.

Four sea lions with evidence of gunshot wounds have been recovered from Malibu beaches in the last two months, wildlife rescuers said Thursday. The two such sea lions found this month had confirmed gunshot bodies, though it is unclear if they were shot before or after they died, said David Bard, director of the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, a hospital that treats the animals. Bullets were pulled from two of the four sea lions, and the other two had evidence of gunshot wounds, said Jonsie Ross, a marine mammal stranding coordinator at the California Wildlife Center.

Federal authorities have proposed shutting down fishing for cod and mackerel across more than 131,000 square miles in the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska in an effort to halt continuing declines in Steller sea lions. The measure is part of a package of restrictions proposed Monday for a total of more than 350,000 square miles of the West Coast's most productive fishing grounds that could affect fisheries worth $30 million a year. A biological opinion released by the National Marine Fisheries Service suggests that clamping down on harvests of fish that are important parts of the sea lions' diet may be the only way to halt the decline of the animals, whose numbers have shrunk by 83% since the 1970s.

A sea lion stranded on the boardwalk in Newport Beach was safe Thursday after residents helped the animal by pushing it away from bicycle traffic and giving it water, officials said. Resident Fred Levine spotted the adult female sea lion leaning against his home's wall about 10 p.m. Tuesday about 1,500 feet from the ocean on the Balboa Peninsula. He left a Scooby Doo pail of water outside for the thirsty animal. Residents called police for help and the city posted signs that read, "Marine mammals rest on shore.