The first PDF file attached below contains digital photos and descriptions of an unusually large concentration of sea lions near Heceta Head on the southern Oregon Coast. Heceta Head is north of Florence and south of Yachats, Oregon, and near the Sea Lion Caves. There does not appear to be any scientific explanation for this massive a gathering of the voracious pinnipeds.

In recent years, marine mammal predation at Bonneville dam has become an increasingly problematic issue affecting migration of adult spring Chinook salmon over the fish ladders at the dam, leading the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho to request a Section 120 exemption from the Marine Mammal Act to deploy lethal removal of a limited number of problem sea lions in that vicinity. The Section 120 exemption was granted in 2008, but before the program could be implemented, appeals from the Humane Society of the United States blocked any lethal take from occurring for approximately another year.

As the author of this piece points out, this concentration of sea lions could have large potential impacts on fish stocks, especially if they gather near Bonneville dam or Willamette Falls. The reader also may be interested in the story of C-265 from the February 2008 edition of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission publication The Dipnetter, which was downloaded from the CRITFC website at www.critfc.org. One of the problematic sea lions  at Bonneville dam, C-265 doubled his weight in 72 days in the spring of 2007 by gorging himself with spring Chinook! The February 2008 edition of The Dipnetter on C-265 is appended  below.

(For those on dial-up, be aware that both of these files are quite large.)

Sea lion concentration near Heceta Hd 12-10-09

Dipnetter

Written by SFA at 4:32 pm. Filed under News | 1 Comment »